UC-NRLF 


*  MOTOR  TRUCK 
TRANSPORTATION 

THK  PRINCIPLES  GOVERNING 

ITS  SUCCESS 


SL/A 


BY 


F.  VAN  Z.  LANE,  C.E. 

LECTURER  ox  MOTOR  TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION, 
NEW  YORK  UNIVERSITY, 

MEMBER,  SOCIETY  OF  AUTOMOTIVE  ENGINEERS 


44  ILLUSTRATIONS 


NEW  YORK 
D.   VAN   NOSTRAND   COMPANY 

EIGHT  WARREN  STREET 
1921 


Copyright,  1921 
By  D.  VAN  NOSTRAND  COMPANY 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMKRICA 


PREFACE 

J  N  1903  there  were  no  motor  trucks.  In  1904,  there 
we -e  411  produced.  Seven  years  later,  or  in  1911,  the 
yearly  production  had  grown  to  about  11,000;  while  last 
ye;  r  (1920)  335,000  motor  trucks  were  manufactured. 
Thus,  the  industry  is  only  fifteen  years  old,  and  it  has  made 
its  greatest  strides  during  the  last  five  years.  There  are 
toe  ay  about  900,000  motor  trucks  in  service. 

The  great  wrar  is  perhaps  more  than  any  other  factor 
responsible  for  this.  That  conflict,  in  which  so  much  de- 
pended on  transportation,  both  "over  there"  and  "over 
here,"  proved  beyond  a  doubt  the  reliability  and  utility 
of  1  he  motor  truck.  It  is  now  used  in  every  line  of  industry. 

The  motor  truck  has  demonstrated  its  dependability 
as  a  mechanical  device.  That  it  can  be  an  economical 
means  of  transportation  has  also  been  proven.  Its  further 
use  depends  not  so  much  on  truck  mechanics  and  design 
as  it  does  upon  a  knowledge  of  how  the  truck  can  be  util- 
ized and  upon  a  conception  of  its  place  and  possibilities 
in  the  transportation  system  of  the  country. 

But  the  field  of  usefulness  of  the  motor  truck  cannot  be 
extended  to  its  full  extent  unless  the  principles  governing 
its  most  successful  utilization  are  generally  understood. 
Ignorance  is  the  one  factor  that  may  prevent  the  new 
method  of  transportation  from  becoming  a  cogent  element 
in  economical  distribution:  a  vital  element,  because  in 
many  instances  it  is  the  cheapest  method  as  well  as  the 
most  efficient,  for  haulage. 

This  book  is  not  a  technical  treatise  on  motor  trucks 
themselves,  but  a  practical  presentation  of  the  principles  of 
truck  operating  cost;  operating  efficiency  and  cost  records; 
operating  cost  laws;  truck  details, such  as  bodies, loading  and 
unloading  devices,  trailers  and  semi-trailers  and  pneumatic 

iii 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

tires;  maintenance;  and  factors  that  determine  the  eco- 
nomical operating  fields. 

The  book  therefore  contains  no  intricate  diagrams, 
charts,  tables,  curves,  formulae,  examples,  and  technical 
terms.  Actual  photographs  are  used  to  illustrate  the 
main  points.  The  author  does  not  attempt  to  discuss 
truck  design,  construction  or  manufacture.  He  accepts 
the  motor  truck  as  a  demonstrated  mechanical  device  and 
considers  those  principles  of  which  a  knowledge  will  lead 
to  the  most  economical  and  efficient  use  of  the  truck. 

Transportation  is  so  essential  in  the  life  of  a  community 
or  nation,  that  anything  that  will  extend  it,  cheapen  it, 
and  make  it  more  efficient  should  be  given  consideration. 

The  purpose  of  this  book  is  therefore  by  a  brief  yet 
simple  and  logical  arrangement,  and  by  a  low  price,  to 
make  available  to  as  many  as  possible,  a  knowledge  of  the 
principles  that  govern  successful  motor  truck  operation. 
It  is  intended  to  be  helpful  to  user,  shipper,  transportation 
man,  purchaser,  student,  economist  and  seller,  or  to  anyone 
having  a  special  problem  in  hauling,  delivery,  distribution 
or  transportation. 

In  presenting  to  the  public  a  work  of  this  kind  on  motor 
truck  transportation,  acknowledgment  must  be  made  of 
the  vision  of  Emlen  S.  Hare,  now  President  of  Hares  Mo- 
tors, Inc.  In  his  career  in  motordom,  Mr.  Hare  has  per- 
haps, more  than  any  one  man,  been  responsible  for  the 
insistence  upon  the  sale  of  motor  truck  transportation 
rather  than  merely  motor  trucks. 

F.  VAN  Z.  LANE. 

NEW  YORK, 

October  15,  1021. 


IV 


CONTENTS 


PREFACE iii 

CHAPTER   I 

THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  MOTOR  TRUCK 1 

CHAPTER   II 

MOTOR  TRUCK  OPERATING  COST  FACTORS 18 

CHAPTER   III 
MOTOR  TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION  LAWS. 

(As  APPLIED  TO  OPERATING  COSTS.) 25 

CHAPTER   IV 

MOTOR  TRUCK  OPERATING  COST  RECORDS 27 

CHAPTER   V 
A  CASE  IN  POINT 33 

CHAPTER   VI 

MOTOR  TRUCKS  vs.  HORSE  DRAWN  TRUCKS 37 

CHAPTER   VII 

MOTOR  TRUCKS  AND  THE  RAILROADS  .  .  . 44  " 

CHAPTER   VIII 

"THE  VALUE  OF  HIGHWAY  TRANSPORT  SURVEYS 66  - 

CHAPTER   IX 

BODIES  . 


CHAPTER   X 

LOADING  AND  UNLOADING  DEVICES 90 

v 


vi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   XI 

MAINTENANCE 104 

CHAPTER   XII 
TRAILERS  AND  SEMI-TRAILERS 109 

CHAPTER   XIII 
PNEUMATIC  TIRES 122 

CHAPTER   XIV 
THE  MOTOR  TRUCK  AND  THE  FARMER  .  . 128      ' 

CHAPTER   XV 
GOOD  ROADS .  .  141 


VICTOR  TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 


CHAPTER   I 

THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  MOTOR  TRUCK 

THE  motor  truck  will  eventually  haul  practically  all  of 
the  freight  going  over  the  streets  and  highways,  most  of 
the  short  haul  less-than-car-load  rail  freight  and  part  of 
the  long  haul  less-than-car-load  freight  now  being  hauled 
by  the  railroads.  Designed  as  a  motor  bus,  it  will  also 
handle  a  considerable  percentage  of  the  urban  and  inter- 
urban  passenger  traffic.  Some  of  the  factors  which  will 
make  it  possible  for  the  motor  truck  to  do  this  work  are 
the  following: 

1.  More  good  roads. 

2.  Growing  realization  of  shippers  of  the  importance  of 
the  delivery  part  of  the  business. 

3.  Realization  by  shippers  of  the  economical  value  of 
the  motor  truck. 

4.  Elimination  of  street  congestion. 

5.  Appreciation  of  the  fact  that  the  motor  truck  is  more 
economical  than  railroads  for  short  haul  less-than-car-load 
in  heavy  traffic  territory. 

6.  Recognition  of  the  principle  that  the  motor  truck  is 
more  economical  than  railroads  in  light  traffic  stub-end 
territory. 

7.  More  extensive  use  of  the  truck  by  farmers. 

8.  Development    and    use    of    loading    and    unloading 
devices. 

9.  Development  of  special  bodies  and  special  equipment. 

10.  Further  development  of  pneumatic  tires. 

11.  The  perfecting  of  maintenance,  despatching,  routing, 
and  shipping  room  methods. 

1 


TRANSPORTATION 

12.  Increasing  use  of  the  motor  bus  in  passenger  trans- 
portation. 

13.  Improvements   in   chassis   and    engine    design   and 
construction. 

14.  Increasing  interest  in  and  general  understanding  of 
motor  transportation  engineering. 

1.  More  Good  Roads. — The  highway  is  to  the  motor 
truck  what  the  track  is  to  the  railroad  train.  Without  a 
track  of  adequate  strength  and  dimensions  it  would  be 
impossible  for  our  railroads  or  electric  railways  to  operate 
with  the  degree  of  efficiency  that  they  now  realize.  As  the 
weight,  size,  and  speed  of  cars,  trains  and  locomotives 
have  increased,  so  also  have  the  weight,  size  and  strength 
of  the  tracks  been  increased,  and  tracks  have  been  main- 
tained with  more  care.  Furthermore,  without  a  sufficient 
number  of  adequate  tracks  the  railroads  of  this  country 
could  not  begin  to  serve  the  important  points.  No  matter 
how  many  railroad  lines  we  have,  their  inflexibility  of 
cost  is  such  that  they  will  not  perform  transportation 
service  in  its  entirety.  We  must  still  look  to  the  highways. 

The  efficient  type  of  highway  rolling  stock  has  already 
been  developed,  but  the  right  type  of  road  bed  for  it,  in 
sufficient  mileage,  is  lacking.  All  signs  point  to  a  tre- 
mendous increase  in  good  roads  construction,  and  with 
good  roads  the  use  of  the  motor  truck  will  increase  tremen- 
dously. The  argument  that  the  highway  should  be  the 
servant  of  transportation,  not  its  master,  is  beginning  to 
bear  fruit,  and  we  are  beginning  to  see  that  in  order  to 
make  our  transportation  system,  as  a  whole,  serve  more 
economically,  the  use  of  the  motor  truck  must  be  seriously 
considered,  and  this  in  turn  necessitates  the  consideration 
of  the  whole  question  of  road  construction. 

There  are  today  approximately  2,200,000  miles  of  public 
road  in  the  United  States,  of  which  only  156,000  are  at  all 
improved.  One  quarter  of  one  percent  of  the  total  road 
mileage,  or  less  than  6,000  miles,  is  so  constructed  as  to  be 

2 


THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  MOTOR  TRUCK 

capable  of  sustaining  heavy  road  traffic.  If  the  motor 
truck  has  developed  to  the  extent  that  it  has  under  these 
rord  conditions,  are  we  not  justified  in  claiming  that  as 
good  roads  are  built  there  will  be  a  tremendous  increase 
in  :he  number  of  trucks  needed  and  placed  in  operation? 

The  National  Government  is  now  committed  to  highway 
construction.  Congress  has  voted  millions  of  dollars  for 
use  in  federal  aid  toward  the  construction  of  state  highways. 
There  is  already  available  this  year,  from  state,  county 
an  I  other  sources,  about  $600,000,000  for  highway  con- 
stiuction. 

A  bill  providing  for  a  national  highway  system  has  been 
introduced  in  Congress.  It  contemplates  federal  main- 
tenance as  well  as  construction,  and  uniform  traffic  laws, 
and  will  undoubtedly  be  passed  sooner  or  later.  It  is 
receiving  almost  universal  support. 

Not  only  is  the  demand  for  more  good  roads  sweeping 
the  country,  but  there  is  a  related  and  equally  widespread 
demand  that  roads  be  made  heavier,  wider  and  smoother. 
With  such  roads  motor  trucks  can  be  operated  more  eco- 
110  iiically  and  more  efficiently,  because  greater  speed  can 
be  obtained,  the  cost  of  truck  up-keep  decreased,  less  fuel 
will  be  required  because  of  the  better  traction  afforded,  and 
trucks  will  last  longer;  all  of  which  means  that  trucks  will 
be  more  and  more  in  demand. 

2.  Growing  Realization  of  the  Shipper  that  the  Question 
of  Delivery  is  of  Primary  Importance  in  the  Success  of  his 
Business. — Most  concerns  know  pretty  well  just  what  their 
labor,  production,  selling  and  accounting  costs  are.  The 
head  of  the  concern  has  usually  had  experience  in  these 
brunches  of  the  business.  They  have  also  had  the  at- 
tention of  students  of  economics.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
head  of  the  concern  has  usually  had  little  or  no  transporta- 
tion experience;  and  those  in  his  employ,  in  charge  of  such 
matters,  have  often  succeeded  in  conveying  the  impression 
that  transportation  technique  is  something  highly  mys- 

3 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

terious.  Consequently,  the  only  attention  that  the  chief 
executive  has  paid  to  shipping  has  usually  been  merely  to 
see  that  deliveries  were  made;  and  not  how  they  were  made. 
The  fact  that  very  few  concerns  use  delivery  cost  systems 
proves  this. 

In  the  business  of  transportation  or  hauling  itself,  per- 
haps a  little  more  attention  has  been  paid  to  transportation 
means  and  methods,  but  here  again  knowledge  of  costs  is 
lacking.  Prices  are  often  quoted  without  any  definite 
knowledge  as  to  whether  or  not  the  work  can  be  done  at 
the  figure  quoted. 

As  the  cost  of  doing  business  rises,  closer  analyses  of 
all  cost  elements  are  constantly  being  made;  and  as  the 
motor  truck  manufacturers  are  continually  pointing  out 
economies  that  can  be  effected  in  delivery  systems,  the 
shipper  is  fast  learning  that  there  is  room  for  choice  between 
several  methods  in  every  problem  of  shipping  and  de- 
livering and  that  it  will  be  to  his  interest  to  look  into  them 
all  in  a  comprehensive  way. 

3.  Shippers  are  Realizing  the  Economical  Value  of  the 
Motor  Truck. — The  more  the  shipper  investigates  his 
transportation  problem,  the  more  convinced  he  is  bound  to 
be  that  the  motor  truck  will  fit  into  it  at  some  point.  He 
will  see  that  it  can  do  more  work  with  less  cost,  and  be 
more  dependable,  than  horses.  He  will  see  that  for  short 
hauls  it  is  quite  as  cheap  as  the  railroad,  even  on  the  basis 
of  railroad  rates  and  motor  truck  operating  costs  alone; 
and  when  he  begins  to  analyze  the  railroad  phase  of  the 
problem  further  he  will  find  that  by  using  the  truck  he 
will  realize  a  saving  at  many  other  points,  as  will  be 
demonstrated  later. 

He  will  find  that  if  compared  directly  with  express  rates 
the  truck  is  very  much  the  cheaper.  From  the  standpoint 
of  time  he  will  find  that  it  is  the  fastest  means  of  transport 
for  short  distances  in  all  but  extremely  congested  districts : 
and  he  will  eventually  realize  what  this  time  means  in 

4 


THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  MOTOR  TRUCK 

actual  saving  of  dollars  and  cents,  and  the  many  ways  in 
which  the  saving  will  help  him  to  increase  his  business. 

He  will  find  that  the  motor  truck  adapts  itself  to  labor- 
sa\  ing  devices  in  loading  and  unloading  and  that  through 
routing  and  dispatching  methods,  hard  to  establish  with 
other  transport  equipment,  he  can  keep  better  track  of 
his  deliveries  and,  therefore,  render  better  service:  and  he 
wil  be  able  to  determine  mo're  exactly  what  his  shipping 
costs  are. 

r.  lie  use  of  a  type  of  transportation  determined  by  syste- 
matic  analysis  is  becoming  more  and  more  general;  and 
eventually  all  transportation  methods  will  be  applied  on 
the  basis  of  such  analysis.  Because  of  this  single  factor, 
the  motor  truck  is  going  to  find  a  constantly  increasing  \ 
market. 

4.  Elimination  of  Street  Congestion. — Many  possible 
uses  are  denied  the  motor  truck  today  because  street  con- 
gestion prevents  the  truck  from  operating  with  any  degree 
of  speed.  In  many  sections. of  such  cities  as  New  York, 
Chicago,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  etc.,  street  congestion  exists 
to  such  an  extent  that  the  motor  truck  cannot  be  used  to 
the  greatest  advantage,  and  the  sections  in  which  such 
congestion,  from  a  trucking  standpoint,  is  the  greatest, 
are  often  those  to,  through,  or  from  which  the  greatest 
amount  of  freight  is  hauled. 

If  this  congestion  can  be  eliminated  or  reduced,  possible 
use  of  the  motor  truck  will  be  greatly  increased.  Sub- 
stantial progress  is  being  made  in  this  direction. 

People  are  becoming  more  and  more  impressed  with  the 
fact  that  when  the  cost  of  delivery  at  terminals  and  through 
the  streets  is  greater  than  that  of  the  long  haul  to  the 
terminal  in  the  city,  the  cost  of  living  is  adversely  in- 
fluenced. The  cost  of  transportation  is  a  large  part  of 
the  cost  of  any  article.  Street  congestion  means  high 
prices. 

More  and  more  is  being  done  in  this  direction  as  con-  | 

5 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

ditions  and  their  remedies  are  being  shown  up  by  City 
Plan,  Street  Traffic,  Railroad,  Harbor  and  other  Com- 
missions. 

Such  Commissions  are  at  work  now  in  most  of  our  large 
cities  and  they  are  not  only  endeavoring  to  remedy  present 
conditions  but  to  plan  so  that  congestion  will  not  occur  in 
the  future. 

Thus  we  have  new  relief  streets  cut  through,  old  road- 
ways widened,  streets  used  for  one-way  traffic  only,  parallel 
street  pavements  improved,  street  obstructions  eliminated, 
tunnels  and  bridges  built  to  separate  traffic,  street  traffic 
regulations  established,  etc. 

One  of  greatest  factors  in  speeding  up  such  work  is  the 
growing  realization  on  the  part  of  all  that  the  motor  truck 
offers  an  economic  means  of  transportation  and  that  con- 
ditions should  be  made  such  that  the  motor  truck  can  be 
utilized  effectively. 

5.  Growing  Realization  that  the  Motor  Truck  is  More 
Economical  than  Railroads  for  Short  Haul  in  Heavy 
Traffic  Territory. — The  haul  which  is  profitable  to  rail- 
roads is  the  so-called  long  haul.  Short  haul  is  not  very 
profitable,  if  profitable  at  all,  because  the  terminal  ex- 
pense incidental  to  any  haul  cannot  be  absorbed  by  the 
short  haul.  So  great  has  this  terminal  expense  become 
that,  only  recently,  one  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
missioners has  rendered  an  opinion  stating  that  in  his 
judgment  terminal  and  haul  rates  should  be  separated. 

Mr.  Grosvenor  M.  Jones  of  the  Bureau  of  Foreign  and 
Domestic  Commerce,  United  States  Department  of  Com- 
merce, is  authority  for  the  statement,  "It  has  been  esti- 
mated that  the  average  expense  of  hauling  a  ton  of  freight 
240  miles  in  the  United  States  is  74c  while  the  expense  of 
handling  the  same  ton  of  freight  at  the  terminals  is  75c." 

Another  authority  states  that  it  costs  27c  a  ton  to  move 
package  freight  from  New  York  to  Philadelphia  on  the 
line  and  that  the  terminal  expenses  are  $3.65,  or  nearly 

6 


THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  MOTOR  TRUCK 

fou  teen  times  as  much.  Philadelphia  is  90  miles  from 
Nev  York. 

Mr.  John  F.  Wallace,  when  Chairman  of  the  Chicago 
Rai.way  Terminal  Commission  and  a  noted  railroad  engi- 
neer, stated:  uThe  average  freight  train  spends  twelve 
hours  in  the  terminal  for  every  hour  it  is  on  the  road." 

A  comparison  of  rates  between  the  motor  truck  and  the 
oth?r  existing  forms  of  transportation  between  short  haul 
poi  its  will  be  in  favor  of  the  motor  truck.  The  same  corn- 
par  son  is  also  in  favor  of  the  truck  wTith  respect  to  time. 
Foi  instance,  from  New  York  to  Philadelphia,  a  distance  of 
90  miles,  the  first  class  railroad  less-than-car-load  rate  per 
100  pounds  is  46c;  add  cartage  costs  30c;  total  freight 
rate  76c;  time  several  days.  Express  rates  per  100  pounds 
are  $1.45,  time  two  days.  Motor  trucking  per  100  pounds 
is  85c  to  $1.00  and  the  time  overnight. 

Detroit  to  Toledo,  first  class  boat  rate  per  100  pounds  .......  $.45 

Detroi-t  to  Toledo  electric  railway  rate  .....................  52l/2 

Detroit  to  Toledo  steam  railroad  rate 


To  all  of  these  rates  there  must  be  added  20c  to  cover 
haulage  to  and  from  each  of  the  lines,  thereby  making  the 
boat  rate  65c,  the  electric  railway  rate  72J^c,  and  the  steam 
railway  rate  72j^c.  The  express  rate  is  $1.03,  the  motor 
truck  rate  is  60c,  and  in  lots  of  3  tons  or  over,  only  40c. 

The  motor  truck  makes  the  run  in  a  few  hours,  whereas 
it  t  nkes  a  day  or  more  where  the  other  means  of  transporta- 
tion are  used.  There  are  many  other  points  in  favor  of 
the  motor  truck  for  such  traffic,  besides  the  lower  rate  and 
quicker  time. 

In  the  use  of  the  motor  truck  it  is  frequently  unnecessary 
to  pack  the  goods.  There  is  therefore  a  saving  in  labor 
and  material  expense  due  to  packing  and  also  in  the  weight 
of  he  packing  which  adds  to  the  total  freight  rate  because 
it  i-.dds  to  the  total  weight  of  the  article  shipped. 

(  Joods  are  less  liable  to  damage  because  there  are  but 
two  handlings  as  a  rule,  one  on  to  the  truck  and  one  off 

7 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

of  the  truck,  whereas  by  any  other  method  there  are 
several  handlings.  These  handlings  take  place  outside 
of  the  jurisdiction  or  supervision  of  the  shipper.  For 


Meat  freight  rates  are  cut  in  half  between  Detroit  and  Toledo,  a  distance 
of  65  miles,  and  the  time  of  delivery  materially  reduced  by  the  use  of  this  re- 
frigerating truck  which  is  in  daily  operation.  Sometimes  a  trailer  of  the 
same  construction  is  attached. 

this  reason,  the  volume  of  goods  damaged  by  railroads  is 
surprisingly  large  and  it  takes  a  long  time  to  put  claims 
through.  Goods  are  very  infrequently  damaged  when 
handled  by  motor  trucks  and  if  there  are  claims,  they  can 
be  settled  immediately. 

One  motor  trucking  concern  operating  between  Detroit 
and  Toledo  handled  5000  packages  with  but  three  damage 
claims. 

Because  of  the  saving  in  time  resulting  from  the  use  of 
the  motor  truck  there  is  no  loss  of  interest.  Merchandise 
is  usually  billed  the  day  it  is  shipped.  Merchandise  costing 
$5,000  lays  in  the  freight  car  for  two  weeks  (this  is  the 
rule  rather  than  the  exception),  and  the  purchaser  mean- 
while undergoes  an  interest  charge  of  SI  1.50.  The  motor 

8 


THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  MOTOR  TRUCK 

tru  ^k  enables  a  business  concern  to  carry  less  stock  than 
would  otherwise  be  necessary  and  therefore  decreases  the 
am  mnt  of  capital  tied  up.  When  merchandise  stocks  are 
low  the  buyer  can  replace  them  very  quickly.  Some  con- 
cerns pay  on  a  2% — 10  day  basis,  or  similarly,  and  if  the 
goods  arrive  the  day  following  the  order,  via  motor  service, 
the  dealer  will  have  nine  days'  time  in  which  to  dispose  of 
them,  and  take  advantage  of 'the  ten  day  discount.  With 
tru^k  deliveries,  there  is  the  possibility  of  selling  goods 
before  payment  is  due.  With  ordinary  deliveries,  the 
possibility  exists  of  having  to  pay  for  the  goods  before 
they  are  received,  if  they  come  by  freight. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  as  we  analyze  this  situation 
the  motor  truck  appears  in  a  more  and  more  favorable 
light.  As  the  railroad  short  haul  traffic  runs  up  into  the 
millions  of  tons,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  possibilities  for 
the  use  of  the  motor  truck  in  this  field  are  tremendous. 

6.  Growing  Realization  that  the  Motor  Truck  is  more 
Economical  than  Railroads  in  Light  Traffic  Stub-End 
Territory. — That  the  railroad  of  the  future  may  find  it 
more  economical  to  tear  up  short  line  tracks  and  develop 
motor  truck  transportation  in  place  thereof  was  the  fore- 
cast made  recently  (January  16th,  1919)  in  an  address 
on  the  future  status  of  the  railroads  by  Mr.  C.  A.  Morse, 
Assistant  Director  of  Operation,  in  charge  of  engineering 
and  maintenance,  for  the  U.  S.  Railroad  Administration. 
Mi-.  Morse  delivered  his  paper  before  members  of  the  New 
York  Railroad  Club  and  his  remarks  were  followed  with 
close  attention  as  coming  from  one  of  the  best  known 
railroad  men  in  the  country. 

'The  perfection  of  the  motor  truck  and  tractor  together 
with  the  universal  use  of  the  automobile,  have  introduced 
a  new  element  into  the  transportation  problem  that  should 
be  taken  into  consideration  at  this  time,  while  studying 
the  reorganization  of  the  whole  transportation  question," 
said  Mr.  Morse. 

9 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

"  Good  roads  are  demanded  for  the  use  of  the  automobile 
and  a  study  should  be  made  to  see  what  additional  ex- 
pense would  be  necessary  so  to  construct  them  that  they 
would  serve  for  motor  truck  and  tractor.  Where,  hereto- 
fore, development  of  the  country  for  50  miles  either  side 
of  a  trunk  line  of  railroad  has  required  the  construction  of 
light  branch  lines,  it  is  a  question  to  be  seriously  considered 
whether  this  policy  should  be  continued  or  whether  good 
wagon  roads  should  be  constructed  and  the  products  of 
farms,  and  passenger  travel,  should  not  be  handled  by 
motor  trucks,  and  automobiles,  to  the  main  line. 

"Taken  alone  and  considered  as  a  unit  practically  none  of 
these  small  branch  lines  pays  expenses;  but  as  gatherers  of 
freight  and  passengers  to  increase  density  of  traffic  on  the 
main  lines  they  are  sources  of  profit. 

"As,  however,  the  traffic  gathered  by  them  is  turned 
over  to  the  main  line  with  a  deficit  attached  which  has  to 
be  overcome  during  the  main  line  movement  before  any 
profit  is  made,  it  would  be  a  decided  advantage  if  this 
traffic  could  be  delivered  to  the  trunk  line  by  means  of  the 
motor  truck,  tractor  and  automobile  without  this  bill  of 
expense  attached." 

Noting  the  fact  that  a  handling  would  thus  be  obviated 
since  it  is  now  necessary  to  truck  farm  products  to  the 
short  line  branch,  and  then  to  transfer  them  to  the  main 
line,  Mr.  Morse  continued: 

"Investigation  of  this  subject  may  show  the  desirability, 
as  good  roads  are  completed,  of  the  taking  up  of  many 
branch  line  railroads  and  utilizing  the  abandoned  road  bed 
for  an  improved  motor  road,  thus  decreasing  the  expense 
of  maintenance  and  operation  of  our  railroads  and  giving 
in  its  place  a  well  located  motor  road.  Such  a  change  would 
call  for  increased  facilities  at  stations  along  the  main  line 
for  passengers  and  for  hauling  freight,  including  storage, 
trackage,  etc.,  but  it  would  mean  the  concentration  of 

10 


THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  MOTOR  TRUCK 

supervision    and    labor,    permitting    better    housing    and 
liv  ng  conditions  for  employees. 

'  Motor  driven  conveyances  have  gradually  been  chang- 
ing conditions  of  railroad  transportation  for  the  past  ten 
ye;  rs,  and  now  that  the  general  study  of  transportation 
facilities  is  up  for  discussion,  they  should  be  taken  into 
careful  consideration,  and  due  weight  given  to  their  in- 
flu^nce  on  the  economics  of  the  situation." 

M.  More   Extensive   Use   of  the   Truck  by  Farmers.— 
Mi1.  Hoover  said,  "50  per  cent,  of  our  perishable  food  stuffs 
ne^er  reach  the  consumers  because  the  farms  on  which 
they  are  raised  are  too  remote  from  the  market  at  which, 
they  are  sold. 

"40  to  60  per  cent,  of  our  potato  crop  is  lost  each  year 
by  rotting  in  the  ground  owing  to  poor  transportation 
means  or  to  spoiling  on  the  way  to  market  because  of  in- 
adequate transportation  over  long  distances. 

' '  By  motor  trucks  the  farmer  will  be  able  to  reach  better  \ 
markets  farther  away  than  now  by  horse  and  wagon.  He 
will  be  able  to  spend  more  time  actually  producing  on  his 
farm  and  be  able  to  sell  food  more  cheaply  by  eliminating 
the  present  tremendous  waste.  By  use  of  the  motor  truck 
the  farmer  will  be  able  to  produce  more  and  sell  at  less 
cost." 

Former  Secretary  of  Commerce  Redfield  recently  said, 
"  You  might  build  up  the  railroads  until  they  are  ten  tracks 
wide  and  fill  the  rivers  with  steamers,  and  still  the  farmer 
could  not  be  served." 

The  present  staggering  economic  loss  occasioned  by  the ' 
waste  of  food  production  can  and  will  be  eliminated  by  the 
motor  truck.     This  will  be  brought  about  in  at  least  four 


1.  By  motor  trucks  owned  and  operated  by  the  farmers. 

2.  By   co-operatively   owned   trucks   where   one   truck   is 

sufficient  to  serve  several  small  farmers  in  the  same 

locality. 
2.  11 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

f3.  By  the  establishment  of  regularly  operated  truck  lines 

carrying  food  products  at  a  regular  scale  of  prices. 
4.  By  the  rural  post  trucks  of  the  Post  Office  Department. 

It  was  not  until  1918  that  the  trucks  began  to  be  used  in 
any  number  by  farmers. 

The  Bureau  of  Crop  Estimates  of  the  U.  S.  Department 
of  Agriculture  reports  that  the  cost  of  hauling  in  wagons 
from  farms  to  shipping  points  in  1918  averaged  about  30c 
per  ton-mile  for  wheat,  33c  for  corn  and  48c  for  cotton. 
For  hauling  in  motor  trucks,  corresponding  averages  were 
15c,  15c  and  18c. 

Motor  truck  hauls  in  1918  from  the  farms  to  the  shipping 
points  averaged  11.3  miles,  while  wagon  hauls  averaged 
only  9  miles.  The  motor  truck,  however,  made  on  an 
average  3.4  round  trips  per  day  over  its  longer  route  of 
11.3  miles,  while  wagons  made  only  1.2  round  trips  per 
day  over  the  9  mile  distance. 

Shortly,  for  the  modern  farmer,  the  problem  will  narrow 
itself  merely  to  the  choice  of  the  proper  truck;  the  utility 
and  value  of  motorizing  the  farm  industry  will  be  definitely 
and  firmly  established.  The  characteristic  foresight  of  the 
American  farmer  will  bring  this  about  when  he  realizes 
that  one  truck  on  his  farm  will  release  several  horses,  that 
one  horse  requires  five  acres  of  tillable  land  to  support  it,— 
land  which  should  be  raising  valuable  food  stuffs  required 
for  human  consumption; — and  that  by  the  use  of  motor 
trucks,  the  farmer  can  haul  to  market  while  keeping  his 
horses  working  in  the  fields;  and  that  the  motor  truck  wiU 
bring  land  formerly  top  far  from  market  for  profitable 
farming,  into  good  use.  One  authority  has  stated  that  the 
\  farmers  of  this  country  will  need  at  least  two  million  ad- 
ditional motor  trucks  within  the  next  ten  years. 

8.  Development  and   Use   of  Loading  and   Unloading 

I  Devices. — Probably  the  longest  delays  occurring  to  a  motor 

truck  are  at  the  loading  and  unloading  points.     Sometimes 

12 


THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  MOTOR  TRUCK 

these  points  are  at  the  shipper's  own  platform  where  he 
his  control.  Sometimes  they  may  be  at  a  freight  station 
01  a  warehouse  where  he  does  not  have  control. 

The  motor  truck  operator  is  beginning  to  see  that  speed 
in  loading  and  unloading  affects,  to  a  great  extent,  the 
profits  to  be  obtained  from  motor  truck  operation;  and  as  a 
consequence,  many  unique  loading  and  unloading  devices 
hrve  been  developed,  and  are  being  utilized,  but  as  yet  only 
to  a  limited  extent.  Among  them  may  be  mentioned 
w  nches,  hoists,  gravity  shoots,  conveyers,  cranes,  telpher- 
age systems,  demountable  bodies,  nest  bodies,  hampers,  etc. 

More  thought  and  application  is  being  given  and  will  be 
given  to  this  phase  of  motor  truck  transportation  than  ever 
before,  and  as  a  consequence,  the  truck  will  be  better 
served  in  this  respect  as  time  goes  on.  As  these  loading  and 
unloading  devices  develop  and  are  made  use  of,  so  then  will 
the  truck  be  more  efficient  and  in  greater  demand. 

9.  Development  of  Special  Bodies  and  Special  Equip- 
ment.— Along  with  speed,  the  load  is  the  other  important 
factor  by  which  truck  efficiency  is  measured.  A  truck 
carrying  only  part  of  its  capacity  is  not  working  as  hard  as 
it  might.  Sometimes  this  cannot  be  helped  but  study  has 
proven  and  experience  has  demonstrated  that  very  often 
capacity  loads  can  be  hauled  if  a  body  is  designed  for  the 
special  work  in  hand.  This  fact  is  being  recognized  more 
and  more  and  undoubtedly  the  future  will  develop  bodies 
in  designs  undreamed  of  at  the  present  time,  which  will  be 
better  adapted  to  the  special  character  of  freight  to  be 
hauled. 

Special  equipment,  such  as  pneumatic  tires;  more  com- 
fortable provision  for  the  driver;  equipment  adapted  for 
street  cleaning,  fire  fighting  and  snow  removal  work;  all 
these  are  continually  being  developed.  The  use  of  trailers 
and  semi-trailers  will  make  the  truck  a  more  desirable  and 
economic  means  of  transportation  in  many  instances. 

All  such  developments  and  special  bodies  will  make  the 

13 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

motor  truck  more  efficient  and  will  consequently  increase 
the  demand  for  it. 

(      The  study  of  special  equipment  will  also  afford  to  the  truck 
a  greater  degree  of  adaptation  to  new  business  and  new  uses. 

10.  Development  of  Pneumatic  Tires. — The  functions  of 
[tires  on  motor  trucks  are  to  secure  traction,  to  protect  the 
mechanism  and  the  load,  and  to  save  the  road  as  much  as 
possible.     Obviously  the  better  a  tire  can  perform  these 
functions,  other  conditions  being  uniform,  the  greater  will 
be  the  speed  at  which  the  truck  can  travel.     As  speed  is 
an  important  element,  anything  that  will  enable  the  truck 
to  operate  faster  and  still  function  as  above,  must  make  the 
motor  truck  more  available. 

Although  pneumatic  tires  are  yet  somewhat  in  the  ex- 
perimental stage,  enough  is  known  about  them  in  practical 
operation  to  know  that  increased  traction  can  be  obtained 
with  them;  they  give  better  protection  to  the  mechanism 
and  the  load,  and  they  probably  injure  the  road  less,  than 
do  solid  tires.  Because  of  the  last  two  points,  greater 
speed  is  obtainable  and  so  the  usefulness  of  the  truck  is 
extended  because  of  the  additional  distance  it  can  travel  in 
a  day.  Because  of  the  first  function,  that  is  because 
pneumatic  tires  afford  greater  traction,  the  truck  can  be 
used  on  roads  under  severe  weather  conditions  where  it 
would  be  impracticable  to  use  solid  tired  trucks,  thereby 
permitting  the  application  of  the  truck  in  places  or  for 
services  where  it  could  not  otherwise  be  used. 
I  It  is  claimed  that  pneumatic  tires  also  lower  repair  bills 
and  save  gasoline.  This  is  somewhat  debatable,  and  if  true, 
such  saving  may  be  offset  by  the  fact  that  pneumatic  tires 
cost  more  to  purchase  and  maintain. 

11.  The  Perfecting  of  Maintenance,  Dispatching,  Rout- 
ing, and  Shipping  Room  Methods. — It  is  only  now  being 
realized  that  the  use  of  better  maintenance,  dispatching, 
routing  and  shipping  room  methods  will  keep  the  truck 
going  faster  with  capacity  loads,  more  of  the  time. 

14 


THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  MOTOR  TRUCK 

Maintenance  methods  are  now  being  studied  and  applied 
f  -om  the  standpoint  of  keeping  the  truck  moving,  as  well 
a>  from  that  of  reducing  the  cost  of  actual  maintenance. 

Proper  dispatching  will  enable  a  truck  to  get  away 
quicker  and  proper  routing  will  cover  the  same  delivery 
points  with  a  shorter  mileage,  with  less  wear  and  tear,  and 
v 'it'll  more  nearly  capacity  loads. 

In  considering  these  things,  The  shipper  will  realize  that 
s  lipping  room  methods  in  general  have  a  good  deal  to  do 
vith  them,  and  shipping  room  methods  will  also  receive 
(  etailed  study  and  consideration,  with  the  result  that  main- 
tsnance,  dispatching,  packing,  routing,  billing,  invoicing, 
etc.,  will  all  be  co-ordinated  to  the  end  that  the  truck  may 
be  served  better.  When  this  is  done,  the  truck  will  do 
more  work  and  will  be  in  greater  demand. 

12.  Increasing  Use  of  the  Motor  Truck  Designed  as  a 
Motor  Bus,  in  Passenger  Transportation. — Motor  trucks 
uesigned  as  motor  buses  are  more  and  more  coming  into 
use  as  means  of  passenger  transportation.  The  motor  bus, 
because  of  its  economy,  flexibility  and  dependability,  is 
rapidly  making  a  place  for  itself  for  urban  and  inter-urban 
passenger  transportation.  It  is  particularly  adaptable  for 
congested  and  narrow  streets  or  thoroughfares  where  it  is 
not  desirable  to  instal  permanent  structures.  It  is  a  means 
for  supplementing  or  serving  other  means  of  transportation 
to  and  from  districts  not  very  heavily  populated. 

Motor  buses,  where  properly  operated,  that  is,  on  regular 
schedule,  with  equipment  designed  to  carry  the  traffic 
presented,  and  with  a  sufficient  amount  of  equipment  on 
hand  so  that  it  can  be  properly  inspected  and  maintained 
in  order  that  dependable  operations  may  take  place,  have 
proven  very  efficient.  Motor  buses  are  an  important  and 
reliable  means  of  passenger  transportation  in  most  of  the 
1  European  cities  where  the  scientific  study  of  street  traffic 
has  been  going  on  for  years.  The  most  notable  example  of 
their  use  in  this  country  is  in  New  York  City  where  the 

15 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

Fifth  Avenue  Coach  Company  operates  motor  buses  on 
Fifth  Avenue  and  Riverside  Drive  and  other  streets.  In 
the  last  five  years  the  number  of  passengers  carried  by  this 
Company  has  increased  from  about  fourteen  millions  per 
annum  to  more  than  forty-two  millions  per  annum. 

Some  time  ago  a  regularly  operated  line  began  operations 
on  the  boulevards  of  Chicago  and  this  Company  is  said  to 
be  meeting  with  success.  In  many  others  of  our  larger 
cities,  buses  are  in  direct  competition  with  street  railways, 
operating  over  the  same  routes  and  in  the  same  streets. 
They  are  under  certain  conditions  faster  than  the  street 
cars;  and  because  of  their  flexibility,  more  buses  than  street 
cars  can  be  operated  under  certain  conditions  of  street 
traffic. 

It  is  very  noticeable  that  our  Municipal  and  Legislative 
authorities  are  recognizing  the  necessity  and  utility  of 
motor  buses.  More  and  more  laws  and  ordinances  are 
being  passed  permitting  their  use.  It  has  been  said  that 
the  motor  bus  saved  Paris  in  the  late  World  War  when  it 
rushed  out  that  part  of  the  French  Army,  held  in  reserve 
at  Paris,  to  meet  the  oncoming  Germans. 

13.  Improvements  in  Chassis  and  Engine  Design  and 
Construction. — As  perfect  as  chassis  and  engine  design  and 
construction  may  be  at  the  present  time,  we  may  naturally 
look  for  further  refinement  and  improvements  in  these 
respects.     These  improvements  will   naturally  make  for 
more  economy  in  operation,  greater  dispatch  in  repairs, 
and  a  longer  life,  which  of  course  will  reduce  truck  operating 

-costs;  which  in  turn  will  increase  the  use  of  the  motor 
truck. 

Particularly,  may  developments  along  this  line  be  ex- 
pected that  will  make  pneumatic  tires  more  adaptable. 

14.  Increasing  Interest  in  and  General  Understanding  of 
Motor  Transportation  Engineering. — Everything  that  has 
been  said  in  this  chapter  comes  under  the  head  of  motor 
transportation  engineering,  which  is  the  art  of  the  correct 

16 


THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  MOTOR  TRUCK 

£  pplication  of  the  motor  truck.  The  application  of  motor 
transportation  engineering  will  bring  about  most  of  the 
i  ses  and  improvements  mentioned. 

The  shipper  is  beginning  to  see  that  the  question  of  the 
Motor  truck  involves  something  more  than  merely  the  use 
rf  a  particular  operating  unit.  There  are  other  factors 
vhich  must  be  taken  into  consideration  with  this  question 
(  f  unit,  to  cover  the  whole  question  of  efficiency.  Shippers 
r  re  beginning  to  investigate,  and  on  investigation  are  find- 
ing, that  the  whole  matter  of  transportation  is  involved  and 
expensive.  They  are  then  bound  to  consider  the  avail- 
ability and  economy  of  all  methods  of  transportation,  and 
of  course  transportation  by  motor  truck  will  be  considered. 
The  more  the  problem  of  transportation  is  studied,  the 
more  will  be  known  about  the  conditions  of  correct  appli- 
cation of  the  motor  truck,  and  so  motor  truck  transporta- 
tion fundamental  principles  will  be  developed  and  generally 
understood. 


17 


CHAPTER   II 

MOTOR  TRUCK  OPERATING  COST  FACTORS 

THE  most  important  point  in  motor  truck  transportation 
is  correct  knowledge  of  its  cost;  because  if  cost  is  not  known, 
it  cannot  be  said  with  any  degree  of  accuracy  that  the  trans- 
portation problem  can  be  more  economically  solved  by 
using  motor  trucks  rather  than  by  using  some  other  means 
of  transportation.  After  it  has  been  decided  that  a  motor 
truck  is  the  more  economical  to  use,  how  can  it  be  said  that 
it  is  doing  its  work  to  the  best  advantage,  and  at  the  least 
cost,  unless  operating  costs  and  performance  are  system- 
atically recorded  after  the  truck  is  placed  in  service? 

The  matter  of  estimating  operating  costs  will  be  dis- 
cussed in  this  chapter,  and  that  of  keeping  account  of 
costs  and  performances  after  the  truck  is  placed  in  opera- 
tion, will  be  taken  up  in  a  following  chapter. 

It  is  impossible  to  set  down  in  this  place,  motor  truck 
operating  costs  that  will  hold  good  for  all  time,  in  every 
locality,  and  for  every  operating  condition.  Obviously, 
costs  will  differ  even  with  the  same-sized  truck,  hauling  the 
same  load  and  covering  the  same  distance,  with  different 
road  and  traffic  conditions,  and  with  different  climatic 
conditions.  And  so  also  do  costs  of  gasoline,  oil,  and 
materials,  the  pay  of  the  drivers,  and  garage  charges  vary 
from  time  to  time  and  in  different  places. 

But  it  is  possible  to  bring  out  those  factors  that  should 
be  considered  in  estimating  costs,  and  the  estimator  can 
then  supply  the  local  current  rates  and  prices,  and  allow  for 
the  local  and  special  operating  conditions. 

It  should  be  noted,  however,  that  it  is  quite  impossible 
to  estimate  costs  correctly  unless  all  of  the  factors  making 
up  the  total  cost  are  considered.  It  is  because  all  of  the 
factors  entering  into  the  operation  of  motor  trucks  have 

18 


OPERATING   COST   FACTORS 

nc  t  always  been  taken  into  consideration,  that  many  users 
of  this  means  of  transportation  have  not  fully  profited 
b}  its  use  and  have  misled  themselves  and  others  as  to  the 
actual  cost.  This  is  also  true  with  other  means  of  trans- 
portation, and  in  determining  the  economic  place  of  the 
motor  truck  in  the  whole  transportation  system,  all  of  the 
cost  factors  under  other  means  of  transportation  should 
also  be  considered. 

Motor  truck  operating  costs  may  be  divided  into  three 
headings,  Investment  Costs,  Fixed  Costs  and  Variable 
Costs,  and  these  again  sub-divided  into  the  following  items: 


Investment 

Fixed 

Variable 

Chassis 

Interest 

Fuel 

Body 

Insurance 

Lubricants 

Cab 

License 

Maintenance 

Freight 

Driver's  wages 

Tires 

War  Tax 

Garage  rent 

Sinking  fund 

Special  equipment 

Under  Investment  should  be  considered  all  items  entering 
in  co  the  original  cost  of  the  truck.  It  is  necessary  to  know 
this  amount  so  that  interest  can  be  computed,  and  so  that 
a  sinking  fund  can  be  set  aside.  Interest  is  based  on  the 
total  amount  of  the  investment  over  a  period  equal  to  the 
life  of  the  truck,  and  the  total  amount  less  the  tire  value 
together  with  the  life  of  the  truck  in  miles  is  taken  as  the 
basis  for  the  sinking  fund.  Experience  has  shown  that 
with  reasonable  care  any  good  make  of  truck  will  last  at 
least  100,000  miles, .and  so  it  is  usually  safe  to  assume  this 
life  period;  and  for  estimating  purposes  this  life  divided  by 
the  yearly  mileage,  will  give  the  number  of  years  on  which 
the  interest  is  based. 

When  the  price  of  a  truck  is  announced,  it  is  usually  for 
the  chassis  only,  and  includes  the  tires.  To  this  chassis 
must  be  added  the  body,  cab,  and  special  equipment,  and 
their  cost  must  be  added  to  the  chassis  cost.  For  sinking 

19 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

fund  purposes  the  tire  cost  is  deducted,  as  this  is  taken 
care  of  under  variable  costs.  Tires  are  usually  guaranteed 
for  a  certain  mileage,  so  that  their  daily  cost,  depends  on 
the  daily  mileage  of  the  truck.  The  price  of  the  chassis 
is  always  quoted  F.O.B.  factory,  so  that  the  freight  cost 
must  be  added  by  the  purchaser  even  though  he  purchases 
the  truck  directly  from  the  floor  of  the  agent.  As  with 
other  commodities,  the  consumer  must  pay  the  w^r  tax; 
and  there  is  one  on  motor  trucks. 

Driver's  cabs  have  not  as  yet  been  generally  adoptea  as 
standard  equipment,  as  they  are  not  always  used,  and  'so 
are  usually  an  extra.  Special  equipment  means  such 
equipment  as  self-starters,  electric  lights,  tire  pumps,  draw 
bar  devices,  cranes,  etc.  which  are  not  generafl^tstandard, 
and  are  not  included  in  the  chassis  price  as  a  rule,  a^^which 
may  be  considered  as  special  and  extra,  supplied  if  desired 
by  the  chassis  manufacturer,  or  by  someone  else,  depending 
on  facilities,  etc. 

Under  Fixed  Costs,  are  included  all  of  those  cost  items 
which  go  on  whether  or  not  the  truck  is  in  actual  operation. 
These  are  usually  reduced  in  the  first  instance  to  a  daily 
basis.  We  have  already  seen  how  to  estimate  the  interest 
charge.  Liability,  property  damage,  fire  and  theft,  should 
all  be  considered  in  reaching  a  proper  insurance  cost. 
There  is  no  standard  license  fee;  it  differs  in  the  different 
states,  and  may  also  vary  with  the  rated  capacity  of  the 
truck,  the  horse  power  of  the  engine,  the  load  carried,  and 
the  unsprung  weight  of  the  truck. 

Variable  costs  are  those  costs  which  vary  with  the  number 
of  miles  operated,  and  obviously  if  the  truck  is  not  operat- 
ing at  all  there  are  no  costs  of  this  kind.  Obviously  too, 
these  costs  are  all  figured  on  a  mileage  basis,  as  is  eventually 
the  total  fixed  and  variable  cost.  In  arriving  at  the  several 
costs  making  up  the  fixed  and  variable  total,  it  is  necessary 
to  know  what  mileage  per  gallon  the  particular  size  and 
make  of  truck  in  question  can  realize  under  the  existing 

20 


OPERATING   COST   FACTORS 

conditions.  This  is  best  ascertained  from  users  in  the 
sane  locality,  and  they  can  also  advise  what  it  costs  to 
nu  intain  the  particular  truck  under  consideration. 

It  has  already  been  said  that  tires  are  guaranteed  for 
a  certain  number  of  miles,  so  that  a  definite  figure  can  be 
assumed  in  estimating  this  item. 

Having  reduced  the  fixed  costs  to  a  daily  basis,  and  the 
va  iabl£  costs  to  a  mileage  basis,  the  daily  average  operat- 
iiu  cost  can  then  be  found  by  multiplying  the  daily  mileage 
by  The  total  variable  cost  per  mile,  and  by  adding  to  this 
tol  al  the  fixed  cost  per  day. 

Suppose  for  instance,  the  total  fixed  cost  is  $7.00  per 
day,  the  variable  cost  is  12c  per  mile,  and  the  truck  oper- 
ates 50  mjfes  per  day.  The  daily  operating  cost  would 
then  ],^^13.00  per  day,  and  the  operating  cost  per  mile 
would  be  26  cents. 

It  will  perhaps  be  noted  that  nothing  has  been  said  about 
overhead  costs.  The  costs  that  have  been  considered 
apply  directly  to  operating  a  truck  while  engaged  in  actual 
transportation  service.  The  amount  of  overhead  to  be 
ad  ied  depends  on  just  what  part  the  truck  plays  in  con- 
ducting the  business  as  a  whole  and  this  varies  so  that  each 
individual  case  would  have  to  be  specially  considered; 
but  for  purposes  of  economic  comparison,  the  actual 
truck  operating  costs  alone  it  would  seem  are  sufficient. 
The  indirect  overhead  expense  applies  to  all  other  means  of 
transportation  as  well.  But,  and  this  point  should  be 
emphasized,  there  is  an  overhead  cost  and  it  should  be 
estimated  and  applied  in  order  to  obtain  a  true  total 
cost. 

[n  considering  fixed  costs  and  reducing  them  to  a  daily 
basis,  it  is  important  to  have  an  idea  as  to  the  number  of 
clays  a  year  the  truck  will  actually  wrork.  For  instance, 
practically  all  items  that  come  under  the  heading  of  Fixed 
Costs  go  on  whether  the  truck  is  operating  or  not,  and  are 
usually  calculated  on  a  yearly  basis,  so  that  to  obtain  the 

21 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

actual  daily  fixed  cost,  it  is  necessary  to  divide  the  total 
yearly  cost  by  the  number  of  days  in  the  year  it  is  assumed 
the  truck  will  work.  It  is  usually  considered  that  a  truck 
will  operate  every  day  in  the  year  except  Sundays  and 
holidays,  or  about  300  days,  so  that  the  amount  for  the 
year  is  usually  divided  by  this  figure  to  obtain  the  true 
daily  fixed  cost. 

There  are  some  lines  of  business,  however,  in  which  a 
truck  cannot  possibly  work  300  days  a  year,  or  every 
working  day;  for  instance,  in  the  contracting  business. 
Weather  prevents,  strikes  take  place,  material  is  held 
up,  etc.  Again,  in  other  lines  of  business  a  truck  may 
be  used  for  very  long  hauls,  so  that  it  makes  the  run 
only  three  or  four  days  a  week.  It  is  quite  necessary  too, 
at  times,  to  lay  a  truck  up  for  repairs,  which  means  lost 
days. 

For  instance,  the  total  yearly  fixed  charges  for  operating 
a  truck  may  amount  to  $2,100,  which  would  be  $7.00  per 
day  for  a  300  year  day.  But  suppose  this  truck  only 
actually  operated  200  days  during  the  year.  The  daily 
fixed  charge  would  then  be  $10.50:  so  that  (with  a  daily 
mileage  of  50  and  a  variable  cost  of  12  cents  per  mile)  the 
total  daily  operating  cost  would  be  $16.50  instead  of  the 
$13.00  given  heretofore. 

It  is  because  of  the  failure  of  many  truck  operators  to 
consider  this  point  that  very  frequently  a  daily  rate 
is  quoted  which  is  actually  less  than  the  daily  operating 
cost. 

From  what  has  been  said  it  can  now  be  easily  seen  that 
the  "cost  per  day"  depends  on  the  daily  mileage.  Fixed 
costs  are  constant,  so  that  the  daily  cost  varies  with  the 
variable  costs,  and  the  aggregate  of  these  depends  on  the 
number  of  miles  the  truck  is  operated.  Obviously,  the 
"cost  per  day"  increases  with  the  daily  mileage.  This 
is  the  reason  why  it  is  quite  possible  to  operate  a  five-ton 
truck  at  a  lower  cost  per  day  than  a  two-ton  truck.  The 

22 


OPERATING   COST   FACTORS 

fiv<  -ton  truck  may  operate  only  ten  miles  a  day  whereas 
the  two-ton  truck  may  operate  fifty  miles  a  day. 

We  can  now  also  see  how  the  "cost  per  mile"  depends 
on  the  number  of  miles  operated  per  day.  This  cost  will 
decrease  as  the  daily  mileage  increases.  We  have  seen 
hov  operating  costs  are  composed  of  variable  costs  and 
fixe  d  costs.  A  high  daily  mileage  means  low  mileage  costs, 
because  there  are  a  greater  number  of  miles  over  which 
the  constant  daily  fixed  charges  can  be  distributed.  A  six- 
tor  truck  operating  fifty  miles  a  day  may  be  cheaper  per 
mile  to  operate  than  a  three-ton  truck  operating  only 
twenty  miles  per  day. 

Because  the  fixed  costs  for  all  sizes  of  heavy  trucks  are 
practically  the  same,  and  because  the  variable  costs  on  the 
vaiious  sizes  are  not  in  direct  ratio  with  size,  the  cost  "per 
ton"  (or  whatever  other  capacity  unit  is  used)  will  depend 
on  the  truck  capacity.  It  will  decrease  with  increase  in 
truck  capacity.  The  daily  cost  per  ton  of  capacity  will 
increase  if  the  daily  mileage  be  increased.  We  have  seen 
how  the  "cost  per  day"  increases  with  the  mileage;  ob- 
viously the  daily  "cost  per  ton "  or  other  capacity  unit  must 
also  increase  with  mileage. 

And  this  is  all  summarized  in  the  "cost  per  ton  mile" 
or  "cost  per  unit  mile."  For  we  can  readily  see  now  how 
this  depends  on  the  truck  capacity  and  the  daily  mileage 
it  makes.  It  will  decrease  with  an  increase  in  capacity, 
or  an  increase  in  daily  mileage.  The  "ton  mile  cost" 
will  be  the  same  for  each  of  two  three-ton  trucks  operating 
ten  miles  daily.  It  will  be  less  with  a  five-ton  truck  operat- 
ing ten  miles  daily  than  with  a  three-ton  truck  operating 
ten  miles  daily.  It  will  be  less  with  a  five-ton  truck  operat- 
ing twenty  miles  than  with  a  five-ton  truck  operating  ten 
miles. 

The  lowest  "ton  mile  cost"  can  be  obtained  by  operating 
the  largest  capacity  truck  over  long  distances  or  at  high 
daily  mileages.  The  highest  "ton  mile  cost"  will  be  ob- 

23 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

tained  by  operating  the  smallest  capacity  truck  over  short 
distances  or  with  short  daily  mileages. 

Before  truck  performance  comparisons  can  be  made,  all 
of  the  factors  should  be  known.  Without  knowing  these 
factors,  daily  costs,  mileage  costs,  ton  mile  costs,  etc., 
cannot  be  computed  and  it  is  dangerous  to  attempt  to  do  it. 


24 


CHAPTER   III 

THE  LAWS  OF  MOTOR  TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 
(As  APPLIED  TO  OPERATING  COSTS) 

IN  considering  the  factors  that  enter  into  the  cost  of 
operating  motor  trucks  we  have  therefore  developed  what 
may  be  termed  the  "  Laws  of  Motor  Truck  Transportation." 
These  can  be  concisely  stated  as  follows: 

.  The  cost  per  day  will  vary  with  the  miles  operated  per 
day.     This  cost  will  increase  as  the  daily  mileage  increases. 

L}.  The  cost  per  mile  will  vary  with  the  miles  operated  per 
day.  This  cost  will  decrease  as  the  daily  mileage  increases. 

X.  The  daily  cost  per  unit  (per  ton,  per  bag,  per  gallon, 
per  bale,  per  box,  or  whatever  unit  is  used)  will  vary  with 
different  truck  capacities  and  the  distance  hauled.  This 
cost  will  decrease  with  an  increased  truck  capacity  and  it 
will  increase  with  an  increase  in  daily  mileage. 

4.  The  cost  per  unit-mile  (per  ton-mile,  etc.)  will  vary 
with  different  capacities  and  the  miles  of  truck  haul  per 
day.  This  cost  will  decrease  as  the  capacity  increases  and 
it  will  decrease  with  an  increase  in. daily  mileage. 

Lt  is  important  to  note  that  these  "Laws"  apply  onh^ 
when  other  conditions  are  equal,  such  as  road  and  traffic 
conditions,  efficiency  of  drivers,  efficiency  of  mechanical 
operation  of  trucks,  etc. 

These  "Laws"  are  important  and  should  be  known  and 
thoroughly  understood  by  everyone  directly  engaged  in 
transportation  and  shipping,  and  particularly  by  those 
who  are  engaged  in  motor  truck  transportation  as  a 
business. 

A  knowledge  of  these  fundamental  "Laws"  will  clear 
up  many  apparent  inconsistencies  in  comparing  the  cost  of 
operating  one  truck  with  another.  Such  knowledge  is 
necessary  if  the  prospective  truck  operator  is  to  determine 

25 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

correctly  what  capacity  of  truck  he  should  use.  They 
make  comparisons  possible  with  other  means  of  transporta- 
tion, and  enable  the  operator  to  ascertain  his  actual  cost  of 
operations  in  connection  with  the  performance  of  his  truck. 
These  "Laws"  explain,  as  was  brought  out  in  detail  in 
developing  them  in  the  previous  Chapter,  why  it  is  possible : 

1.  To  operate  a  five-ton  truck  at  a  lower  cost  per  day 
than  a  two-ton  truck. 

2.  To  operate  a  six-ton  truck  at  a  lower  cost  per  mile 
than  a  three-ton  truck.     (The  six-ton  truck  may  travel 
more   miles   than   the   three-ton   truck.     Since   the   fixed 
charges  for  each  truck  are  about  the  same  and  since  the 
difference  in  the  variable  charges  is  less  than  the  difference 
in  capacity,  the  fewer  the  miles  the  higher  the  cost.) 

3.  To  haul  a  ton  one  mile  cheaper  in  a  five-ton  truck 
than  on  a  two  and  a  half-ton  truck,  provided  the  trucks  be 
loaded  to  capacity.     (Since  fixed  charges  are  about  the 
same  in  each  case  and  since  variable  charges  are  not  in 
direct  ratio  to  the  capacities  of  the  trucks,  it  does  not  cost 
twice  as  much  to  operate  a  five-ton  truck  one  mile  as  it 
does  to  operate  a  two  and  a  half-ton  truck.) 

4.  To  haul  a  ton  cheaper  if  the  distance  is  only  one  mile 
than  if  it  is  four  miles.     (This  is  obvious,  yet  if  we  do  not 
think  about  it,  we  may  not  consider  that  the  hauling  cost 
per  ton  varies  according  to  the  length  of  haul  and  increases 
with  it.) 

5.  That  the  cost  of  hauling  a  ton  a  mile  may  vary.     (This 
is  possible  because  the  operating  costs  of  different  capacity 
trucks  are  not  in  direct  proportion  to  the  capacities.    There- 
fore the  per  ton  mileage  cost  will  be  less  with  a  fully  loaded 
three-ton  truck  than  with  a  fully  loaded  two-ton  truck. 
The  cost  of  operation  per  mile  depends  on  the  total  daily 
mileage.     It  decreases  as  the  mileage  increases.     The  ton- 
mile  cost  of  a  three-ton  truck  operating  twenty  miles  a  day 
will  be  less  than  if  the  truck  only  handled  its  three  tons  ten 
miles  a  day.) 

26 


CHAPTER   IV 
MOTOR  TRUCK  OPERATING  COST  RECORDS 

HAVING  carefully  determined  that  it  will  be  economical 
to  operate  a  truck  or  a  number  of  trucks  in  the  particular 
line  of  business  considered  and  under  the  special  require- 
ments for  the  hauling  or  delivery  in  question,  it  becomes 
necessary  to  keep  an  accurate  account  of  the  actual  costs, 
subdivided  in  such  a  way  that  it  will  be  easy  to  analyze 
them  and  to  determine  whether  all  the  work  possible  is 
being  obtained  from  the  truck,  and  whether  its  operating 
costs  can  be  cut  down. 

Economical  performance  cannot  be  determined  in  any 
other  way.  Although  a  number  of  complete  truck  cost 
accounting  systems  have  been  devised  and  have  been  in 
operation  for  several  years,  and  are  simple,  cheap,  easily 
available,  and  require  only  a  very  few  moments  per  day 
for  the  necessary  records,  yet  their  use  today  is  very  limited. 
There  are  probably  less  than  50,000  records  being  kept 
according  to  these  systems  out  of  a  total  of  some  900,000 
trucks,  or  only  about  five  per  cent.  Of  course,  there  are 
individual  systems  in  use,  yet  it  is  doubtful  if  any  operating 
costs  at  all  are  being  kept  on  as  many  as  eight  per  cent, 
of  the  motor  trucks  in  operation. 

This  is  a  very  curious  situation.  The  business  man 
knows  what  his  production,  labor,  selling,  advertising,  and 
oveinead  costs  are,  and  takes  particular  pains  to  find  out, 
at  considerable  cost.  Yet  he  usually  disregards  his  trans- 
portation, hauling  and  delivery  costs,  although  they  may 
play  a  large  part  in  the  total  cost  of  doing  business.  In 
fact,  in  many  businesses,  they  are  the  largest  single  element 
in  the  total  cost.  This  is  probably  because  the  head  of  the 
business  has  never  been  especially  interested  in  that  part 
of  the  business,  and  because  those  responsible  for  it  have 

3  27 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

thrown  an  air  of  mystery  around  it,  that  the  management 
has  been  satisfied  if  the  wheels  of  transportation  kept  on 
moving,  no  matter  what  the  cost.  Many  of  the  transporta- 
tion cost  items  have  been  absorbed  by  other  departments 
of  the  business,  and  other  items  have  been  looked  upon  as  a 
necessary  evil.  Simple  accounting  will  indicate  points, 
where  economies  can  be  effected. 

A  proper  truck  cost  accounting  system  will  show  mileage 
per  gallon  of  gasoline  and  of  oil,  loads  carried,  loading  and 
unloading  time,  number  of  stops,  time  out  for  repairs, 
speed,  etc.  A  careful  analysis  of  these  records  may  show 
that  too  much  gasoline  and  oil  is  being  consumed;  that  the 
truck  is  either  under  or  overloaded;  that  too  much  time  is 
being  used  for  loading  and  unloading;  that  too  many  stops 
are  being  made;  that  the  truck  is  laid  up  too  frequently, 
and  that  it  is  not  routed  so  as  to  obtain  the  maximum 
speed. 

The  basic  information  for  supplying  all  of  this  very 
valuable  information  can  be  easily  obtained  by  the  driver 
of  the  truck.  Particularly  is  this  so  if  a  simple  printed 
form  is  drawn  up  and  supplied  to  him  for  this  purpose,  so 
that  all  he  has  to  do  is  to  insert  a  figure  now  and  then. 
This  form  should  be  designed  so  that  one  small  sheet  will 
cover  a  day's  operation  of  a  truck.  It  should  be  ruled  to 
include  the  leaving  and  returning  time  of  each  trip,  the 
number  of  stops,  either  for  delivery  or  pickup,  time  con- 
sumed in  stopping,  the  out  and  in  load  in  terms  of  load 
units  (tons,  gallons,  barrels,  sacks,  packages,  board  feet, 
yards,  etc.),  as  well  as  total  daily  truck  mileage,  the 
amount  of  gasoline  and  oil  used,  and  the  total  time  the 
truck  was  in  service.  It  is  also  valuable  to  know  weather 
and  road  conditions,  particulars  of  delays,  whether  a 
helper  or  trailer  is  used,  etc. 

It  can  readily  be  seen  that  with  a  properly  ruled  and 
headed  form  it  will  be  very  easy  for  the  driver  to  furnish 
the  information  wanted.  With  the  above  information  in 

28 


OPERATING   COST   RECORDS 

hand,  a  very  good  idea  can  be  had  of  truck  performance, 
as  well  as  complete  information  of  actual  operating  costsr 

From  this  information  there  can  be  determined  the 
number  of  miles  per  gallon  of  gasoline  and  per  quart  of 
oil  the  truck  is  making,  the  number  of  hours  it  is  actually 
in  operation,  the  loads  it  carries,  and  the  distance  it  travels. 
All  of  this  will  indicate  whether  or  not  the  truck  is  operating 
efficiently,  and  the  cost  of  its  operation. 

In  order  to  have  a  complete  record,  the  drivers'  reports 
should  be  posted  daily  on  forms  provided  for  that  purpose, 
so  that  a  day-to-day  comparison  can  be  made  of  the  per- 
formance of  a  given  truck,  as  well  as  comparison  of  one 
truck  with  another,  either  in  the  same  fleet  or  operated  by 
someone  else.  The  posted  forms  also  permit  of  obtaining 
actual  operating  expenses  for  a  month  or  a  year,  as  well 
as  for  a  day. 

As  has  been  said  before,  such  records  are  now  being  uni- 
formly kept  on  the  costs  of  operation  and  the  performance 
of  perhaps  50,000  trucks,  engaged  in  every  line  of  business, 
and  in  all  sections  of  the  country.  So  that  if  the  truck 
operator  will  but  keep  accurate  and  complete  records  on 
his  own  truck,  he  can  compare  them  with  those  kept  by 
some  other  operator  in  his  line  and  his  locality,  and  by  this 
means  know  to  some  extent  whether  or  not  his  hauling  is 
costing  him  too  much;  and  if  so,  in  what  particular  items; 
and  also  whether  or  not  he  is  obtaining  as  much  work  out 
of  his  truck  as  some  other  operator  is  getting. 

Emphasis  should  be  laid  on  the  necessity  of  keeping 
accurate  and  complete  records.  It  can  easily  be  understood 
that  inaccurate  records  are  worthless,  but  it  is  not  so  easily 
understood  that  complete  records  must  be  kept  to  get  the 
full  picture. 

Not  only  should  all  the  items  already  enumerated  be 
noted,  but  also  drivers'  wages,  repair  and  overhead  costs, 
gasoline  and  lubricant  costs,  tire  mileage,  and  repairs  and 
replacements,  as  well  as  the  first  or  investment  costs,  from 

29 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

which  interest  and  sinking  fund  is  computed.  Both  of 
these  last  items  should  be  noted  in  their  proper  places. 
In  fact,  all  of  the  items  noted  in  the  previous  chapter  as 
involved  in  estimating  truck  operating  costs,  should  be 
considered. 

If,  because  of  repairs,  it  is  necessary  to  hire  a  truck  for 
the  time  being  to  replace  the  regular  truck,  the  cost  of  such 
extra  truck  should  be  carefully  noted,  and  charged  against 
the  regular  one.  Garage  costs  should  also  be  considered, 
even  though  the  truck  is  kept  on  the  premises.  The  space 
occupied  should  be  charged  against  it:  and  a  proper  share 
of  the  overhead  pertaining  to  truck  operation  should  be 
noted  and  charged  in,  such  for  instance  as  the  garage 
superintendent,  truck  mechanics,  washers,  etc. 

It  is  because  of  incomplete  records  that  a  truck  operator 
will  often  say  that  he  can  "operate  his  truck  for  $7.00 
per  day,  because  he  has  kept  a  record  and  knows."  He  may 
have  kept  a  record,  but  it  was  an  incomplete  one.  Yet 
he  believes  he  can  operate  his  truck  for  this  figure,  and  so 
do  others,  because  he  and  they  believe  that  the  figures 
show  it.  The  trouble  is  that  he  has  left  out  a  few  im- 
portant items.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  we  hear  of  ex- 
tremely low  ton-mile  costs  and  other  low  unit  costs.  Until 
it  is  realized  that  proper  costs  and  performances  must  be 
based  on  full  and  complete  records,  we  will  continue  to 
have  some  phenomenally  low  costs  reported  which  will 
be  believed  possible  by  a  large  number  of  people,  both 
users  and  sellers,  especially  because  they  would  like  to 
believe  such  low  costs  possible.  The  actual  cost  of  operat- 
ing motor  trucks  in  their  proper  field  is  so  low,  and  there 
are  so  many  other  advantageous  features  in  connection 
with  such  operation,  that  their  use  should  not  be  retarded 
by  inaccurate  statements  as  to  their  cost  of  operation. 

Is  it  not  worth  a  few  minutes  a  day  to  know  that  you  are 
getting  full  mileage  out  of  the  tires;  that  the  truck  is  oper- 
ating and  not  standing  still  most  of  the  time;  that  it  is  not 

30 


OPERATING   COST   RECORDS 

laid  up  too  frequently  for  repairs;  that  gasoline  and  oil 
are  not  being  wasted;  that  the  truck  is  not  oversped;  that 
it  is  being  operated  to  capacity;  and  that  you  have  a  care- 
ful, reliable  and  efficient  driver?  The  keeping  of  truck 
performance  records  will  do  this  and  more. 

Such  records  may  tell  you,  for  instance,  that  you  have 
too  large  a  truck,  or  too  small,  that  the  body  is  not  adapted 
to  the  commodity  you  are  handling,  or  that  you  have  too 
many  or  too  few  trucks  to  do  your  work.  It  may  also 
tell  you  that  it  will  be  cheaper  for  you  to  give  up  hired 
trucks  and  to  place  more  of  your  own  in  operation,  or  that 
your  business  can  be  increased  because  of  the  extra  distance 
your  truck  can  operate  after  performing  the  work  hereto- 
fore allotted  to  it. 

One  of  the  best  uses  to  which  cost  and  performance 
records  can  be  put,  is  to  furnish  a  basis  on  which  to  pro- 
mote bonus  systems  and  to  determine  awards  for  efficient 
operation.  In  this  way,  gasoline  consumption  can  be 
cut  down,  tire  mileage  increased,  and  major  repairs  all 
but  eliminated. 

It  has  perhaps  been  general  opinion  that  a  one-truck  fleet 
is  too  small  to  keep  costs  and  performances  on.  This  is 
a  very  much  mistaken  idea.  The  man  operating  but  one 
truck  is  the  one  who  can  least  afford  not  to  have  it  operat- 
ing most  efficiently;  and  more  often  than  not  the  one  truck 
is  but  the  beginning  of  a  fleet,  and  the  kind,  size,  and 
equipment  of  subsequent  trucks,  can  best  be  determined 
by  analyzing  the  performances  of  the  first  one. 

The  truck  operator  who  is  not  keeping  accurate  and  com- 
plete records  of  truck  cost  and  performance,  is  losing  a  big 
opportunity  to  make  more  money  for  himself.  There  are 
printed  forms  for  this  purpose  readily  available  at  a  very 
cheap  price,  in  fact  at  cost,  and  as  it  takes  but  a  very  few 
minutes  a  day  to  use  them,  there  is  no  excuse  for  any  truck 
operator's  not  doing  it. 

If  every  truck  operator,  or  even  the  great  majority  of 

31 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

them,  will  keep  truck  operating  costs,  a  clearer  and  better 
understanding  of  truck  performance  will  result.  This  of 
course  will  be  to  the  advantage  not  only  to  users  of  motor 
truck  transportation,  but  to  all  others  having  a  hauling, 
delivery  or  transportation  problem. 

In  these  days  of  the  co-operative  spirit,  information  on 
hand  is  usually  available,  if  not  directly,  through  an  in- 
direct medium,  so  that  all  my  profit.  It  is  so  with  other 
costs  and  practices,  and  it  will  be  so  in  motor  truck  trans- 
portation costs  and  performances.  When  knowledge  is 
made  general,  one  learns  from  the  other,  and  everyone 
benefits, — the  user,  the  truck  manufacturer,  and  the  public 
Economical  and  efficient  transportation  is  fundamental  for 
the  public  comfort  and  convenience  and  for  cheapness  of 
living. 


32 


CHAPTER   Y 
A  CASE  IN  POINT 

IN  the  consideration  of  motor  truck  transportation,  it 
is  highly  essential,  as  brought  out  in  the  preceding  two 
chapters,  that  a  correct  understanding  be  obtained  of  all 
the  items  entering  into  the  operation  of  motor  trucks,  and 
that  truck  operating  costs  be  carefully  recorded  by  those 
using  this  form  of  transportation.  Because  all  the  items 
entering  into  truck  operating  costs  have  not  been  generally 
understood,  and  because  actual  operating  records  have  not 
been  generally  kept,  a  misunderstanding  has  grown  up  as 
to  actual  motor  truck  operating  costs,  which  makes  it 
possible  for  those  promoting  this  kind  of  transportation  to 
misrepresent  such  costs.  When  operating  figures  are  pre- 
sented to  a  prospective  user  of  motor  trucks,  he  should 
make  sure  that  they  are  complete  and  authentic. 

There  is  plenty  of  information  of  a  mis-leading  character 
going  about  in  this  respect,  information  which  is  not  con- 
fined to  trade  publications,  but  is  also  being  circulated 
in  popular  mediums  which  reach  the  general  public.  For 
instance,  a  manufacturer  of  motor  trucks,  long  in  the 
business,  carried  a  page  advertisement  recently  in  one  of 
the  popular  magazines,  having  a  circulation  of  over 
2,000,000  copies.  This  advertisement  stated  that  this 
particular  motor  truck  did  the  work  of  five  to  nine  teams  at 
a  cost  of  $7.00  per  day,  and  was  written  around  the  follow- 
ing letter,  which  also  appeared  in  the  advertisement: 

"NOTICE   TO   TAXPAYERS 

"The  undersigned  makes  this  statement  for  the  benefit  of  the  taxpayers 

of  —          County.     I  have  driven  a  —  —  truck  one  hundred  and 

three  days  in  the  county  and  worked  in  every  township  in  the  county  but 
one,  and  in  that  time  I  hauled  1,030  yards  of  gravel  an  average  distance  of 
o  \4  miles.  I  pulled  a  road  drag  198  miles  and  the 'road  grader  128  miles.  I 

33 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

have  kept  an  account  as  correctly  as  possible,  and  in  my  judgment  it  will  cost 
$7.00  per  day  to  operate  a  truck,  not  counting  anything  for  repairs,  and  in  the 
103  days  we  spent  $.50  for  fan  belt,  $2.00  for  two  spark  plugs,  total  $2.50.  A 
great  many  ask  if  I  thought  it  paid.  Well,  a  truck  properly  handled  and  put 
the  push  in  it  will  do  the  work  of  from  5  to  9  teams,  and  to  bear  this  statement 
out,  will  refer  to  the  men  I  worked  for,  —  —  (5  in  all)  —  — .  The 

subsuperintendents  of  the  county  think  that  my  statement  will  enable  the 
taxpayer  to  figure  out  for  himself  as  to  whether  the  truck  pays.  The  county 
needs  one  truck  in  each  commission  district,  is  my  judgment  in  the  matter  of 

trucks. 

''Signature." 

Although  this  letter  is  not  specific  as  to  the  actual  amount 
of  work  performed  per  day,  it  is  quite  impossible  to  operate 
that  sized  truck  at  a  cost  of  $7.00  per  day,  taking  all  of 
the  cost  factors  that  must  be  considered,  as  brought  out 
in  Chapter  II. 

An  effort  was  made  to  have  this  statement  explained  by 
addressing  the  truck  manufacturer,  and  the  employers  of 
the  writer  of  the  letter  referred  to,  for  further  information, 
as  follows: 

*• 

"Gentlemen: 

"As  one  interested  in  motor  vehicle  transportation,  your  advertisement 
appearing  in  the  current  issue  of  -  —  is  very  interesting,  particularly 

Mr.  —  — 's  letter,  around  which  the  advertisement  is  built. 

"This  letter  states  that  in  Mr.  -  — 's  judgment,  it  costs  $7.00  per 

day  to  operate  a  truck,  based  on  his  experience  in  operating  one  of  your  dump 
trucks  103  days.  The  letter  appears  to  me  to  be  ambiguous  in  some  respect s; 
and  I  would  appreciate  it  if  you  will  clear  it  up  a  little  for  me. 

"Over  what  period  of  time  were  the  103  days  included? 

"What  was  the  total  mileage  operated  during  these  days? 

"What  was  the  average  distance  per  day? 

"What  was  the  price  of  this  truck,  equipped  with  a  cab  and  body,  at  the 
time  of  delivery,  at  the  point  delivered? 

"What  are  Mr.  —  — 's  wages? 

"What  was  the  cost  of  gasoline  in  —  —  County  during  the  time 

specified,  and  how  many  miles  can  be  covered  per  gallon  of  gasoline  with  a 
—  5-ton  dump  truck? 

34 


A  CASE  IN  POINT 

"In  the  letter  Mr.  —  —  speaks  of  pulling  a  road  drag  198  miles  and 

the  road  grader  128  miles.     Is  this  in  addition  to  the  work  performed  in  hauling 
the  gravel? 

"Mr.  -        — gives  an  average  of  5^2  miles.     Is  this  an  average  of 

53^  miles  per  yard,  or  what  does  it  refer  to? 

"What  is  the  character  of  the  roads  over  which  this  truck  operates? 

"Your  consideration  to  these  questions  will  be  greatly  appreciated. 

"Signature." 

The  truck  manufacturer  disregarded  this  request,  and 
the  following  letter  was  received  from  the  operator  of  the 
truck.  This  letter  was  written  in  long  hand,  exactly  as 
printed  below: 

"Your  communication  was  handed  to  me  by  Mr.  —  —  our  County 

Road  Supt.  to  explain,  as  i  was  the  one  that  done  the  work  and  drove  the  truck. 

"As  to  the  expense,  I  used  from  14  to  18  gallons  of  gass  witched  cost  20  cts 
per  gal  for  the  first  2  month,  22  cts  the  last  month  or  over.  They  paid  me 
35  cts  per  hour. 

"As  to  time  consumed,  from  June  3  to  Nov.  17. 

"Cost  of  truck  $4000.00. 

"It  would  be  a  hard  matter  to  get  the  total  milag  per  day  as  i  have  some  of 
my  record  misplaced  not  thinking  i  would  ever  use  them  again. 

"In  regard  to  me  hulling  the  gravel  will  say  i  holled  for  2  weeks  or  more 
10}/£  miles  made  4  trips  per  day.  My  holling  .was  from  2  to  10H  miles.  I 
was  repairing  roads  all  over  the  country.  The  road  i  holled  over  were  hilley 
but  soiled  when  it  rained  and  road  became  soft  it  would  drag  and  grade. 

"i  am  sub-superintendent,  i  have  70  miles  of  roads  to  maintain  and  keep 
up. 

"I  see  you  refer  to  a  5  ton  truck.  This  was  3%  ton  truck  I  would  holl  3 
to  3*4  yds  gravel. 

"Just  as  i  stated  in  me  statement  that  was  printed  in  — 

"I  holled  1030  yds  gravel  a  distance  of  5%  miles  pulled  a  drag  198  miles, 
puled  a  grade  128  mile.  All  of  this  work  was  done  in  103  days  and  i  referred 
me  tax  payers  to  the  sub-superintendent  that  i  done  this  work  for  men  among 
the  best  we  have  in  the  county.  Would  be  glad  to  give  you  any  more  in- 
formation that  you  desire.  I  am  not  interested  in  any  truck  or  company. 

"i  have  worked  at  the  road  business  for  35  years  and  interested  in  good 
roads,  and  i  have  got  70  miles  of  the  best  roads  in  —  —  County,  and 

35 


MOTOR  TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

will  say  in  conclusion  that  i  don't  think  that  any  road  man  would  make  a 

mistake  in  buying  a truck. 

"Hope  to  hear  from  you.  Will  say  that  it  make  a  great  difference  in  level 
roads  and  hilley  road  long  and  short  trips  in  regard  to  the  amount  of  gass 
used. 

"Respectfully  yours 

"Signature." 

From  all  of  this  it  is  perfectly  evident  that  the  operator 
of  this  truck  did  not  understand  truck  operating  costs  and 
the  motor  truck  manufacturer  was  trying  to  capitalize  on 
incomplete  and  inaccurate  information  by  spreading  claims 
broadcast  that  the  vehicles  manufactured  by  him  could  be 
operated  at  a  ridiculosuly  low  price  per  day. 

This  sort  of  propaganda  is  unnecessary,  because  the 
motor  truck  in  its  proper  field  is  the  most  economical  means 
of  transportation. 


36 


CHAPTER   VI 
MOTOR  TRUCKS  vs.  HORSE  TRUCKS 

THE  900,000  motor  trucks  in  operation  in  the  country 
today  owe  their  existence  primarily  to  the  fact  that  they 
can  perform  a  better  service  more  economically  than  can 
horse-drawn  trucks.  Up  to  date,  the  work  that  the  motor 
truck  is  mostly  doing  is  that  previously  done  by  horses. 
It  is  true  of  course  that  motor  trucks  are  doing  some  work 
formerly  done  by  the  railroads,  but  not  yet  to  an  extent  to 
be  comparable  with  that  formerly  done  by  horses.  The- 
motor  truck  has  been  promoted  principally  on  the  basis  that 
it  is  a  better  unit  for  highway  transportation  than  is  the 
horse. 

And  yet,  despite  the  tremendous  amount  of  motor  truck 
promotion,  there  are  still  a  great  many  horses  to  be  seen 
hauling  freight.  It  might  be  expected  that  this  would  be 
the  case  in  country  districts  where  road  conditions  do  not 
yet  permit  of  heavy  road  units,  but  it  is  also  noticeable  in 
the  larger  cities  where  existing  pavements  are  strong 
enough  to  sustain  heavy  motor  trucks.  This  is  sub- 
stantiated by  actual  figures. 

In  1919  there  were  7,920  stables  housing  75,740  horses  in 
New  York  City,  and  in  the  same  year  there  were  32,489 
horse-drawn  vehicles  in  the  city  of  Chicago.  It  is  quite 
true  these  figures  show  a  material  reduction  from  previous 
years,  at  a  rate  which  implies  that  there  will  be  few  horses 
in  these  two  cities  in  another  five  or  six  years.  Still,  the 
number  is  quite  large,  everything  considered, — so  large 
that  the  predictions  made  several  years  ago  when  motor 
trucks  first  began  to  appear  on  the  streets,  that  horses 
would  soon  be  a  thing  of  the  past,  has  not  altogether  been 
justified. 

37 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

One  of  the  main  reasons  for  this  is  that  some  of  those 
still  operating  horses  do  not  appreciate  the  actual  cost  of 
horse  operations  as  compared  with  motor  truck  operations, 
considering  the  amount  of  work  that  each  can  do. 

With  horses,  as  with  motor  trucks,  it  is  the  same  old 
story  of  not  knowing  the  real  cost, — or  not  recognizing  and 
taking  into  account  all  of  the  items  entering  into  the  cost 
of  operating  horse-drawn  vehicles.  When  all  of  the  items 
are  considered  and  properly  accounted  for,  the  cost  of 
operating  a  team  of  horses  is  considerably  more  than  most 
people  imagine.  The  following  items  should  be  taken  into 
consideration  when  computing  the  actual  cost  of  horse 
operation,  and  in  considering  them  the  cost  of  both  truck 
and  harness,  as  well  as  that  of  horses,  should  be  included  in 
arriving  at  the  interest,  insurance,  depreciation,  and  re- 
pairs costs: 

Interest  on  investment  Provender 

Insurance  Stabling 

License  Shoeing 

Depreciation  Driver's  wages 

Repairs  to  equipment  Veterinary 

Supervision,  office,  telephone,  advertising,  etc. 

With  horse  transport,  as  with  motor  trucks,  it  is  im- 
possible to  give  the  cost  of  operating  a  two-horse  team  of 
horses  per  day  that  will  hold  good  for  all  time,  in  any  and 
in  every  community,  and  under  every  operating  condition. 
Yet,  on  the  statements  of  large  and  long  established  oper- 
ators of  horses  with  enough  business  ability  and  interest 
in  their  work  to  keep  accurate  and  complete  costs,  the  daily 
cost  will  run  from  ten  to  thirteen  dollars  and  even  over. 

Now,  the  daily  expense  of  a  team  of  horses  goes  on  prac- 
ically  irrespective  of  the  work  done,  whereas  the  fewer 
niles  a  motor  truck  operates  a  day,  the  lower  is  its  cost 
of  operation.  Perhaps  the  true  way  of  comparing  the 
operating  costs  by  the  two  methods  of  transportation  would 
be  to  compare  the  maximum  work  that  a  team  can  ac- 

38 


MOTOR  TRUCKS  VS.  HORSE  TRUCKS 

complish  in  a  day  with  the  cost  of  a  motor  truck  doing 
the  same  amount  of  work. 

A  team  of  horses  is  limited  both  as  to  distance  and  as  to 
load.  The  limiting  distance  is  determined  by  the  speed 
and  the  actual  amount  of  work  the  horses  can  do  without 
physical  injury  to  themselves,  and  so  as  to  be  in  condition 
to  repeat  the  next  day.  The  maximum  average  speed  of 
a  team  of  draft  horses  in  front  of  a  load  is  not  more  than 
three  miles  an  hour,  and  ten  hours  would  certainly  be  the 
limit  of  time;  but  it  would  be  impossible  for  a  team  of 
horses  to  walk  continuously  and  maintain  their  condition, 
so  that  instead  of  a  day's  work  of  30  miles  being  possible, 
experience  has  shown  that  15  miles  per  day  is  nearer  right. 
Experience  has  also  shown  that  three  tons  is  about  the 
maximum  load  average;  so  that  it  will  cost  at  least  ten 
dollars  to  move  three  tons  fifteen  miles  by  using  a  team  of 
horses.  But  as  the  team  must  ordinarily  return  to  its 
stable  at  night,  the  daily  limit  of  operation  is  restricted  to 
a  radius  of  from  7  to  8  miles  from  the  stable  or  base  of 
operations. 

On  the  other  hand,  taking  every  item  into  consideration 
in  motor  truck  operating  costs,  as  brought  out  in  Chapter 
II,  it  will  not  cost  on  the  average  more  than  nine  dollars 
a  day  to  operate  a  three-ton  motor  truck  fifteen  miles  per 
day.  Thus,  at  conditions  most  favorable  to  the  horse, 
it  costs  more  to  operate  a  team  of  horses  a  day  than  it 
does  a  motor  truck  of  equal  capacity,  performing  an  equal 
amount  of  work. 

Other  considerations  that  should  be  noted  are  the  in- 
vestments in  the  two  kinds  of  equipment,  and  also  their 
respective  lives. 

A  two-horse  team  with  a  three-ton  wagon,  together  with 
harness,  etc.,  will  cost  today  approximately  $1400  at  the 
least,  whereas  a  good  three-ton  motor  truck,  complete 
with  body,  will  cost  about  $4200.  This  kind  of  truck  on  a 
fifteen  mile  a  day  basis  should  last  twenty  years,  whereas 

39 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

the  average  life  of  a  team  of  horses  hauling  three  tons  fifteen 
miles  per  day  would  not  be  more  than  eight  years. 

Why  is  it  then  that  there  are  still  thousands  of  teams 
transporting  commodities  through  the  streets  of  our  cities, 
where  road  conditions  do  not  enter  into  the  problem,  when 
motor  trucks  can  do  the  work  at  less  cost,  where  they  are 
more  dependable  in  all  seasons  of  the  year,  and  when  they 
have  reserve  daily  work  capacity  several  times  that  of  the 
team? 

Apparently  there  are  just  three  reasons:  one,  ignorance 
as  to  the  true  operating  costs  of  the  two  means  of  trans- 
portation, and  as  to  the  possibilities  of  the  motor  truck  as 
against  the  team.  Second,  lack  of  capital  necessary  to 
make  the  greater  investment.  Third,  those  already  having 
horse  drawn  equipment  and  engaged  in  purely  short  haul 
work  in  congested  districts,  find  the  horse  in  many  instances 
••  equal  to  the  truck.  But  it  should  be  noted  that  these 
concerns  usually  have  motor  trucks  as  well  as  horses  to 
supplement  their  work,  and  that  as  the  horses  wear  out, 
they  are  usually  replaced  with  motor  trucks. 

It  has  been  stated  by  some  that  the  horse  is  more  eco- 
nomical in  so-called  short-haul  work  than  is  the  motor 
truck;  that  where  the  stops  are  long  and  the  mileage  low, 
the  motor  truck  cannot  be  used  with  economical  financial 
advantage.  This  does  not  seem  to  be  borne  out  when  the 
actual  costs  are  considered.  By  stops  is  meant  those 
stops  incidental  to  street  congestion  or  congestion  at  the 
points  of  loading  and  unloading,  so  that  the  truck  is  de- 
layed in  reaching  and  getting  away  from  these  points. 
Because  of  their  adaptability  to  loading  and  unloading 
devices,  motor  trucks  can  be  used  to  better  advantage  in 
cutting  down  such  time  than  can  horse  drawn  vehicles. 
And  certainly  motor  trucks,  because  of  their  shorter  length 
and  speedier  pick  up,  are  more  flexible  in  congestion  than 
teams.  In  fact,  this  is  so  true,  that  in  order  to  obtain 
greater  street  capacity  the  time  is  undoubtedly  coming 

40 


MOTOR  TRUCKS  VS.  HORSE  TRUCKS 

when  horse-drawn  vehicles  will  be  ruled  off  of  the  most 
congested  streets  of  the  cities;  particularly,  slow-moving 
teams. 

As  has  been  said,  the  daily  cost  of  a  team,  irrespective  of 
daily  mileage,  is  practically  constant,  whereas  the  daily 
cost  of  a  motor  truck  is  absolutely  dependent  on  daily 
mileage.  If,  for  instance,  the  team  travels  but  five  miles 
per  day,  its  cost  is  the  same  as  though  it  traveled  fifteen 
miles  per  day,  whereas,  if  a  motor  truck  travels  but  five 
miles  per  day,  its  daily  cost  is  less  than  if  it  travels  fifteen 
miles  per  day,  as  was  pointed  out  in  Chapter  II.  No  1 
matter  whether  the  team  is  moving  or  not,  it  must  be  fed 
and  otherwise  taken  care  of,  whereas  when  a  truck  is  not 
operating,  all  variable  charges  cease,  with  the  possible  ex- 
ception of  the  driver's  wages. 

Again,  it  costs  very  little  more  to  operate  a  six-ton  motor 
truck  than  a  three-ton  motor  truck,  whereas  in  order  to 
move  six  tons  all  at  once  with  horses,  it  becomes  necessar}r 
to  employ  two  teams,  thereby  nearly  doubling  the  expense. 

And  so  it  seems,  that  from  every  angle,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  initial  investment,  it  is  actually  more  economical 
to  use  motor  trucks  even  in  short  haul  work  than  to  use  i 
horses.  The  additional  investment  can  be  justified  on  the 
ground  of  longer  life,  more  constant  and  dependable  service, 
and  the  reserve  always  available  for  additional  work  when 
opportunity  offers. 

In  transportation,  speed  times  load  equals  work,  and  a 
motor  truck  is  capable  both  of  making  greater  speed  and  of 
carrying  greater  loads  than  horse  drawn  vehicles,  so  that 
it  can  render  better  service  where  such  conditions  prevail 
as  will  permit  it  to  take  advantage  of  these  superior  points. 
It  can  move  quite  as  fast  as  the  horse  in  congested  districts, 
and  at  the  same  time  can  carry  a  greater  load.  Reaching 
its  destination  sooner,  it  can  load  and  unload  more  quickly 
because  it  lends  itself  better  to  mechanical  loading  and 
unloading  devices.  Thus,  in  contracting  work  for  instance, 

41 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

even  in  congested  districts  the  motor  truck  can  carry 
more,  and  its  available  power  can  be  so  connected  with  the 
body  as  to  be  able  to  dump  the  load  in  a  minute  or  two. 
So  also  with  the  delivery  of  coal.  The  limit  of  speed  even 
with  a  big  six-ton  truck,  controlled  by  a  " governor''  is 
four  times  that  of  a  team  of  horses,  and  it  can  carry  two 
times  the  load,  and  can  on  demand  make  100  miles  a  day 
or  more.  The  motor  truck  can,  if  necessary,  w^ork  .24 
hours  a  day,  and  summer  heat  and  winter  cold  do  not 
affect  it.  It  is  in  just  as  good  condition,  and  as  ready  to 
go  on,  at  the  end  of  ten  hours'  work  as  in  the  first  hour. 
Not  so  with  the  horse. 

The  motor  trucks  of  the  New  York  Post  Office  work  18 
hours  per  day  in  the  most  exacting  kind  of  service.  Sched- 
ules have  to  be  met  with  better  than  train  efficiency,  heavy 
loads  have  to  be  carried,  and  high  speed  made  through  the 
city's  streets  in  all  seasons  of  the  year,  and  every  day  in 
the  year.  Two  drivers  are  used.  The  motor  truck  can 
endure  more  than  man  or  beast. 

In  hauls  of  over  15  miles  the  motor  truck  costs  much  less 
than  horses.  Given  a  haul  of  60  miles,  the  motor  truck 
could  make  it  in  a  day,  whereas  it  would  take  a  team  3  days 
and  they  would  probably  have  to  rest  the  fourth  day.  It 
would  therefore  cost  three  times  as  much  with  horses,  be- 
cause (remember)  the  fixed  charges  are  the  biggest  part  of 
truck  operation,  and  are  the  same  per  day  for  a  60-mile 
day  as  for  a  15-mile  day.  The  truck  in  this  run  could  also 
carry  more  than  the  team  could  haul,  and  would  carry  it 
about  four  times  as  fast.  Then  too,  if  necessary,  the  truck 
could,  without  damage  to  itself,  be  left  in  the  street  at  the 
end  of  the  run,  whereas  some  place  would  have  to  be  found 
to  stable  horses  at  night. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  hauls  of  over  15  miles,  there  can 
be  no  comparison,  because  that  mileage  is  the  daily  limit 
of  the  team.  Above  this  range,  the  motor  truck  enters  the 
field  which  up  to  a  short  time  ago  was  occupied  exclusively 

42 


MOTOR  TRUCKS  VS.  HORSE  TRUCKS 

by  the  railroad.  Here  the  question  of  comparatively  fast 
transportation  requires  consideration,  and  this  field  of  the 
motor  truck  will  be  discussed  in  the  next  Chapter. 

The  question  of  the  motor  truck  as  against  the  horse  in 
rural  districts  presents  a  rather  different  aspect,  and  has 
assumed  such  large  proportions  recently  that  it  will  be 
taken  up  in  a  subsequent  Chapter  devoted  to  the  Motor 
Truck  and  the  Farmer. 

In  comparing  the  costs  of  operating  motor  trucks  and 
horse  drawn  trucks,  the  mistake  should  not  be  made  of 
comparing  the  cost  of  operation  of  one  means  of  transporta- 
tion in  one  community,  with  the  other  means  of  transporta- 
tion in  another  community,  because  driver's  wages,  fuel, 
provender,  operating  conditions,  etc.,  may  not  be  on  the 
same  or  comparable  planes.  Cost  comparisons  should 
only  be  made  under  like  conditions.  It  is  for  this  reason, 
as  before  stated  (but  it  needs  to  be  emphasized),  that  uni- 
versal highway  transport  costs  cannot  be  established.  All 
of  the  cost  items  must  be  recognized,  local  wages  and 
charges  applied,  and  local  and  individual  operating  con- 
ditions considered  in  each  case. 


43 


r 


CHAPTER   VII 

THE  MOTOR  TRUCK  AND  THE  RAILROAD 

A  GREAT  deal  has  been  said  about  motor  trucks  replacing 
horses  in  the  moving  of  commodities,  but  until  recently 
very  little  has  been  said  about  their  supplementing  the 
haulage  work  done  by  rail ;  yet  a  great  part  of  the  future  of 
the  motor  truck  undoubtedly  lies  in  just  this  sort  of  work. 
The  Great  War  demonstrated  the  possibilities  of  the  truck 
along  these  lines,  which  possibilities  are  undergoing  further 
development  at  the  present  time. 

During  the  war,  railroads  were  taxed  to  the  limit,  and 
the  main  lines  and  great  terminals  became  congested  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  United  States  Railroad  Administra- 
tion gave  notice  that  in  certain  communities  commodities 
would  have  to  be  moved  by  truck  so  as  to  relieve  rail  con- 
gestion as  much  as  possible.  In  order  to  move  some  com- 
modities at  all,  it  was  necessary  to  use  trucks  because  the 
railroads  would  not  accept  them  on  account  of  priorities. 
Again,  because  of  the  rail  congestion,  shippers,  even  though 
their  commodities  had  priority,  resorted  to  trucks  because 
of  the  saving  in  time  they  could  effect  by  their  use. 

All  of  this  drew  attention  to  the  adaptability  of  the  motor 
truck  for  what  were  then  considered  to  be  long  hauls  in 
this  method  of  transportation;  and  since  that  time  con- 
siderable study  has  been  given  to  this  phase  of  truck  trans- 
portation. Many  long-haul  operations  have  been  at- 
tempted, with  some  successes  and  with  many  failures. 

The  failures  have  resulted  mostly  because  those  in- 
terested have  failed  to  recognize  and  take  into  account 
certain  necessary  fundamentals  which  tfiust  exist  to  make 
this  kind  of  truck  operation  successful,  and  which  have 
always  existed  where  success  has  been  attained.  It  has 
been  primarily  because  favorable  conditions  have  been 

44 


THE   MOTOR   TRUCK  AND   THE   RAILROAD 

present,  without  any  real  investigation  showing  this  to  be 
so  or  without  any  real  understanding  that  they  did  exist, 
that  many  successes  have  occurred.  Poor  business  manage- 
ment has  also  resulted  in  numerous  failures.  Many  people 
have  gone  into  long  distance  truck  hauling  who  have  had 
no  business  ability,  and  who  have  imagined  that  all  there 
was  to  it  was  to  purchase  a  truck  and  start  operating  it 
between  two  or  more  points,  and  their  fortunes  would  soon 
be  made. 

The  truck  manufacturers  as  a  whole,  and  the  tire  com- 
panies as  well,  have  also  been  responsible  for  many  of  the 
long  distance  truck  failures.  In  order  to  dispose  of  their 
products  and  to  widen  the  market  for  them,  they  have 
urged  that  trucking  lines  be  established,  irrespective  of  the 
merits  of  the  particular  proposition;  and  that  shippers 
generally  either  patronize  such  lines  or  purchase  and 
operate  their  own  trucks.  The  manufacturers  as  a  whole 
have  even  gone  so  far  as  to  sell  trucks  on  easy  terms  to 
those  desiring  to  go  into  this  business.  All  of  this,  however, 
has  had  its  good  effect  as  well  as  its  bad  effect.  It  has 
discovered,  to  some  extent  at  least,  what  conditions  must 
prevail  if  the  truck  is  to  enter  this  field  successfully,  and 
also  to  some  extent  how  the  truck  must  be  operated  if  it 
is  to  succeed  in  this  kind  of  work.  It  is  also  demonstrating 
the  limits  of  the  truck,  insofar  as  economical  length  of  haul 
is  concerned. 

These  demonstrations,  however,  have  not  as  yet  finally 
settled  anything  along  this  line.  Experiments  are  still 
going  on,  that  are  accomplishing  a  vast  amount  of  good, 
not  only  in  this  direction  but  in  another  direction  as  well, 
that  is,  in  pointing  out  the  real  and  complete  costs  of  rail 
transportation;  which  have  been  shown  to  include  some- 
thing more  than  simply  the  freight  rates  quoted  between 
the  places  from  and  to  which  the  freight  movement  takes 
place.  These  demonstrations  have  also  about  proved  that 
the  motor  truck  cannot  take  the  place  of  the  railroad  in 

45 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

so-called  long  distance  hauls  as  a  general  and  usual  thing; 
although  in  some  unusual  cases  it  may  prove  to  be  more 
economical  for  particular  reasons  to  resort  to  the  motor 
truck  rather  than  to  use  rail  operation  in  quite  a  long  haul. 
The  manufacturers  have  demonstrated  to  those  interested 
in  the  motor  truck  industry  that  they  are  really  producing 
a  means  of  transportation  and  not  merely  a  mechanical 
device.  In  order  to  dispose  of  their  products  advanta- 
geously, not  only  from  the  standpoint  of  the  present  but 
from  that  of  the  future  as  well,  they  must  approach  their 
marketing  problems  from  a  transportation  standpoint; 
which  of  course,  will  be  beneficial  to  all  concerned. 

In  approaching  this  problem,  here  again  a  complete 
knowledge  of  all  of  the  items  entering  into  the  cost  of  motor 
truck  operation  must  be  obtained.  If  they  are  not  known 
and  applied,  how  is  it  possible  to  determine  a  rate  that  will 
be  profitable,  or  that  will  show  the  futility  of  competing 
with  existing  means  of  transportation  between  the  points 
in  question?  Or  if  the  shipper  intends  to  operate  his  own 
trucks  in  this  kind  of  service,  how  will  he  know  which  is  the 
least  expensive  means  of  transport  unless  he  knows  all 
of  the  items  that  enter  into  truck  and  rail  delivery  under  his 
conditions,  and  applies  them?  The  mere  fact  that  some 
other  operator  is  in  successful  operation  over  a  route  of 
equal  or  nearly  equal  distance,  or  that  some  other  shipper 
is  operating  his  own  trucks  between  the  same  two  places  in 
question,  is  no  criterion  that  it  can  be  done  equally  as  well 
in  the  case  under  consideration.  The  operations  in  exist- 
ence and  seemingly  successful  may  be  a  guide  to  anyone 
contemplating  similiar  operations,  and  that  is  about  all. 
Each  individual  case  must  be  decided  on  its  own  merits. 
Let  this  fact  once  sink  in  and  the  motor  truck  will  soon 
find  its  place  in  distance  hauling,  for  there  is  no  doubt  but 
that  it  has  its  place  there. 

In  the  chapter  on  Truck  Operating  Cost  Factors,  the 
items  necessary  to  ascertain  true  costs  were  discussed. 

46 


THE   MOTOR   TRUCK  AND   THE   RAILROAD 

It  was  stated  there  that  the  item  of  overhead  costs  was  a 
very  important  one,  and  that  it  was  often  overlooked. 
The  overhead  cost  in  conducting  highway  transportation 
lines  is  usually  very  large  in  itself,  and  in  proportion  to 
other  operating  items;  yet  it  is  seldom  provided  for  in 
estimating  the  probable  cost  of  conducting  such  lines  or  in 
considering  the  cost  after  operations  have  started.  Yet 
how  is  a  line  of  this  kind  to  be  successfully  operated  if  it 
is  not  properly  supervised,  business  solicited,  freight  sta- 
tions maintained,  and  an  office  equipped  so  that  business 
can  be  properly  conducted?  All  of  this  costs  money. 

In  determining  whether  the  motor  truck  or  the  rail- 
road is  the  more  economical  to  use,  many  factors  should  be 
taken  into  consideration,  to  some  of  which  as  yet  very 
little  attention  has  been  given.  We  have  already  dis- 
cussed all  of  the  factors  entering  into  motor  truck  costs. 
Now  let  us  take  up  those  included  in  transportation  by  rail. 

It  is  a  peculiar  fact  that  most  shippers  seem  to  think  that 
the  entire  cost  of  rail  transportation  is  in  the  rail  rate  paid 
to  the  railroad  company  itself.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  this 
is  only  one  item.  They  forget  that  the  railroads  require 
most  L.C.L.  (less  than  carload)  freight  to  be  crated  or 
boxed,  and  that  this  costs  real  money,  not  only  for  the 
material  going  into  the  crates,  but  in  the  labor  to  put  the 
material  together  and  in  the  space  taken  up  to  have  the 
material  stored  and  this  work  done;  and  all  three  of  these 
items  of  cost  are  today  very  high.  The  shipper  also  for- 
gets that  boxing  or  crating  adds  very  materially  to  the 
weight  of  the  article  being  shipped,  and  as  the  rail  freight  is 
based  on  total  weight  of  article  and  packing,  he  pays  the 
railroad  not  only  to  transport  his  commodity,  but  its  con- 
tainer also.  Many  shippers  would  probably  be  surprised 
to  learn  on  investigation  that  the  containers  sometimes 
cost  more  than  the  freight  rate  on  the  article  they  contain, 
and  that  they  weigh  more  than  the  article  itself. 

Shippers  also  seem  to  forget  that  it  costs  money  to  have 

47 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

their  freight  picked  up  from  their  own  loading  platforms 
and  delivered  to  the  rail  freight  stations  and  picked  up  from 
the  rail  freight  stations  at  the  other  end  of  the  line  and  de- 
livered to  the  consignee.  The  railroad  does  not  perform 
this  service  free,  and  if  it  is  performed  by  an  outside  truck- 
ing concern,  it  is  charged  for  by  weight ;  and  here  again  the 
weight  of  the  container  comes  in. 

The  reason  the  railroads  require  crating  or  boxing  is  so 
that  the  article  itself  will  be  protected  from  damage,  likely 
to  result  from  the  many  handlings  necessary  if  this  form  of 
transportation  is  resorted  to.  And  even  so,  goods  shipped 
by  rail  are  frequently  damaged,  and  when  this  occurs  it 
usually  takes  a  long  time  to  settle  the  claim;  and  of  course 
there  are  the  indirect  losses  which  must  be  suffered  be- 
cause of  the  delay  necessitated  for  replacing  the  damaged 
article. 

To  get  the  actual  cost  of  L.C.L.  shipments  by  rail,  it  is 
necessary  to  add  to  the  freight  rate,  cost  of  boxing  or  crat- 
ing, including  the  material,  labor  and  space  necessary  to  do 
the  work,  the  cost  of  carting  the  crated  goods  from  the 
shipper's  platform  to  the  railroad  station,  and  from  the 
railroad  station  to  the  consignee's  platform,  as  well  as  the 
excess  freight  due  to  the  container  itself. 

Of  course,  when  shipment  by  express  is  considered  the 
(delivering  of  the  goods  to  and  from  the  railroad  station  is 
pliminated,  express  shipments  being  door-to-door  proposi- 
tions. 

The  average  of  the  first,  second,  and  third-class  railroad 
rates  from  New  York  to  Philadelphia  is  39c  per  hundred 
pounds,  to  which  should  be  added  30c  per  hundred  pounds 
for  delivering  and  collecting  at  the  two  ends  of  the  line, 
or  a  total  of  69c.  Shipments  can  be  made  directly  from 
door  to  door  by  motor  truck  for  as  low  as  85c  per  hundred 
pounds,  5-ton  lots,  by  reliable  motor  trucking  lines,  or  for 
16c  more  than  by  railroad  freight.  This  is  only  9c  more 
than  the  first-class  rate.  When  it  is  considered  that  it  is 

48 


THE   MOTOR   TRUCK  AND   THE   RAILROAD 

usually  unnecessary  to  pack  goods  going  by  motor  truck, 
the  16c  is  more  than  offset  by  the  elimination  of  packing 
costs  and  the  weight  of  the  container. 

In  hundred-pound  lots  the  trucking  rate  is  $1.00,  and  it  is 
believed  that  the  difference  between  this  rate  and  the  rail- 
road freight  rate  would  be  more  than  offset  when  these 
costs  are  taken  into  consideration. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  first-class  express  rate  from  New 
York  to  Philadelphia  is  $1.45  per  hundred  pounds.  This  is 
a  door-to-door  delivery,  but  crating  or  boxing  is  usually 
required. 

In  addition  to  this  saving  by  motor  truck  in  the  direct 
costs,  there  is  an  indirect  saving.  Because  of  the  two 
handlings  only, — on  to  the  truck  and  off  of  the  same  truck 
at  the  other  end — goods  are  very  seldom  damaged,  and 
if  they  are  damaged,  claims  can  be  usually  adjusted  im- 
mediately. Goods  are  seldom  damaged  by  motor  truck, 
not  only  because  of  the  reduction  in  handling  as  compared 
with  railroad  transportation,  but  also  because  the  loading 
is  usually  done  under  the  supervision  of  the  consignor,  and 
unloading  under  the  supervision  of  the  consignee;  whereas 
if  gotftis  are  shipped  by  railroad  freight  or  express,  most  of 
the  handling  takes  place  under  the  supervision  of  no  one 
particularly  interested. 

It  is  quite  impossible  to  quote  standard  crating  and 
boxing  costs,  or  to  estimate  how  much  crating  and  boxing 
adds  to  the  weight,  such  costs  varying  according  to  the 
nature,  size  and  weight  of  the  commodity.  As  an  indica- 
tion, however,  of  what  can  be  expected  along  this  line,  the 
traffic  manager  of  one  of  the  large  industries  has  made  in- 
vestigations in  this  connection,  and  states  that  in  his  par- 
ticular business  the  weight  of  the  container  adds  17  per  cent, 
to  the  railroad  transportation  cost,  and  the  cost  of  the  con- 
tainer adds  24c  to  the  cost  of  transport  per  hundred  pounds 
of  commodity;  and  it  should  be  noted  that  the  commodity 
with  which  this  concern  deals  is  rather  heavy. 

49 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 


If  the  shipper  does  his  own  trucking  with  his  own  motor 
trucks,  it  will  cost  him  considerably  less  than  the  railroad 
rates  (plus  the  other  expenses  referred  to)  on  short  hauls. 
For  instance,  if  a  motor  trucking  line  can  make  a  rate  of 
85c  to  $1.00  per  hundred  pounds  from  New  York  to  Phila- 
delphia, a  distance  of  ninety  miles,  and  make  money  by  so 
doing,  the  shipper  by  using  his  own  trucks  (when  he  would 
not  be  expected  to  make  money  on  the  haul),  could  perform 
this  transportation  for  very  much  less  money.  This  was 
found  to  be  the  case  by  the  traffic  manager  referred  to 
above. 

In  addition  to  the  enumerated  direct  savings  in  cost 
by  using  the  motor  truck,  the  question  of  time  is  an  im- 
portant one  to  be  considered,  because  for  short  distances 
the  motor  truck  is  faster  than  railroad  freight  or  railroad 
express;  and  with  the  development  of  good  roads  and 
pneumatic  tires,  the  speed  of  the  motor  truck  is  likely  to 
be  increased. 


A  type  of  heavy  duty  truck  used  in  inter-city  hauling. 

50 


THE   MOTOR   TRUCK  AND   THE   RAILROAD 

For  instance,  motor  trucks  operate  between  New  York  , 
and  Philadelphia  overnight,  whereas  the  best  that  express  / 
can  do,  under  normal  conditions,  is  two  days,  and  railroad 
freight  takes  a  week  more  often  than  not.     It  should  be 
considered  that  when  freight  is  received  at  a  railroad  freight 
the  consignee  is  first  notified  and  that  then  he  must  make 
arrangements  to  pick  the  freight  up,  all  of  which  takes  time. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  economical  range  of  the  motor 
truck  has  not  yet  been  determined,  but  no  less  an  authority 
than  an  official  of  one  of  our  greatest  railroads  has  recently 
stated  that  for  hauls  up  to  forty  miles  it  was  economical  to 
use  the  motor  truck.  Road  conditions,  quantity  of  freight, 
and  possibility  of  return  loads  are  some  of  the  important 
elements  that  determine  this  economical  length  of  haul. 

Another  important  item  to  be  considered  in  connection 
with  the  time  element  is  that  by  using  motor  trucks  it  is 
unnecessary_tp  carry^such  a  large  inventory  of  goods,  if 
supplies  can  be  oBtairied  from  sources  within  motor  trucking 
distances.  In  other  words,  speaking  of  this  phase  of  the 
subject  in  terms  of  maximum  possibilities,  it  would  be 
necessary  under  motor  truck  conditions  to  carry  but  one 
day's  supply  of  stock,  whereas  if  railroad  freight  is  de- 
pended on,  it  would  be  necessary  to  carry  from  a  week's 
to  a  ten  day's  supply. 

Another  phase  of  this  subject  is,  that  motor  trucks  are\ 
more  reliable  than  railroads,  in  that  they  are  not^subject 
to_emliargpes.  With  their  use,  the  shipper  is  not  likely  to 
be  entirely  cut  off  as  he  is  at  times  by  the,  railroad.  Motor 
trucks  have  proven,  if  given  proper  road  conditions,  that 
they  can  operate  just  as  reliably  as  railroads,  winter  as 
well  as  summer,  and  now  that  the  States  and  Counties  are 
beginning  to  appropriate  money  and  organize  to  clear  the 
highways  of  snow  and  ice  in  the  winter  time,  such  operation 
will  be  even  more  reliable.  There  are  instances  where 
motor  trucks  have  been  kept  going  when  the  railroads  have 
had  to  shut  down  because  of  weather  conditions. 

51 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

In  order  to  determine,  therefore,  whether  it  is  more 
economical  to  use  motor  trucks  or  to  ship  by  rail,  all  of  the 
foregoing  considerations  should  be  taken  into  account;  and 
unless  all  of  these  items  are  taken  into  account,  the  shipper 
cannot  determine  which  is  the  more  economical. 

If  the  shipper  finally  decides  that  it  is  more  economical  to 
ship  by  motor  truck,  he  cannot  determine  whether  or  not  he 
should  use  public  motor  trucking  lines,  or  operate  his  own 
trucks,  unless  he  knows  the  quantity  of  freight  he  has  to 
ship  to  the  various  points,  and  whether  or  not  he  has  goods 
or  material  coming  back  to  him  from  the  points  to  which  he 
ships,  or  whether  or  not  he  could  make  arrangements  to 
carry  goods  back  to  some  other  concern  located  in  his  own 
vicinity.  A  survey  might  show  that  rather  than  patronize 
a  motor  trucking  line,  it  would  be  advisable  for  two  or  three 
or  even  more  shippers  to  combine  and  operate  their  own 
trucks,  if  the  one  shipper  did  not  have  enough  business  to 
justify  his  operating  his  own  truck  or  fleet  of  trucks. 

If  the  shipper  finally  determines,  after  a  proper  survey 
has  been  made,  that  it  is  cheaper  and  more  desirable  from 
every  standpoint,  to  use  a  public  motor  trucking  line,  he 
should  be  sure  that  the  line  he  patronizes  is  operated  along 
proper  business  lines,  has  sufficient  capital  to  carry  on  its 
operations,  has  the  proper  kind  of  equipment,  and  that  his 
goods  will  be  fully  protected  by  insurance. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  economical  range  of  the  motor 
truck  as  compared  with  the  railroad  has  not  yet  been  de- 
termined and  no  less  an  authority  than  an  official  of  one 
of  our  greatest  railroads  has  recently  stated  that  for  hauls 
up  to  forty  miles  it  was  more  economical  to  use  the  motor 
truck.  Comparative  costs  of  both  means  of  transportation 
under  like  conditions  would  indicate  what  the  economical 
range  is.  As  a  general  thing,  knowing  what  we  do  about 
the  costs  of  the  two  methods,  this  distance  of  forty  miles 
( seems  to  be  somewhere  near  right,  although  local  conditions 
I  will  often  decrease  or  increase  it. 

52 


THE   MOTOR   TRUCK  AND   THE   RAILROAD 

The  reason  why  a  motor  truck  can  compete  with  the  rail-  ( 
road  between  two  points  near  together  is  that  terminal 
costs  are  so  great  that  the  short-line  haul  does  not  give  the 
railroad  an  opportunity  to  absorb  them.  The  railroads  do 
not,  to  any  great  extent,  separate  their  terminal  costs. 
Yet  from  figures  submitted  to  the  Inter-State  Commerce 
Commission  a  few  years  ago,  the  Commission  stated: 

"The  combined  average  terminal  cost  at  one  end  is 
shown  to  be  10.4  cents  per  hundred  pounds.  For  two 
terminal  buildings  (origin  and  destination)  this  figure 
doubled  results  in  20.8  cents  per  hundred  pounds;  and  as 
this  figure  contains  no  element  of  overhead  costs,  or  taxes, 
such  costs  are  arrived  at  by  dividing  the  terminal  cost  by 
the  operating  ratio. 

"The  operating  ratio  of  the  Trunk  Line  roads  for  1915, 
1916,  and  1917  is  69.6,  and  the  result  of  dividing  the  termi- 
nal cost  of  20.8  cents  by  the  operating  ratio  is  30  cents  per 
hundred  pounds,  which  covers  terminal  expenses  and  over- 
head for  less  than  carload  freight." 

Now  taking  this  figure  of  30  cents  a  hundred,  or  $6.00  a 
ton,  and  disregarding  the  fact  that  all  costs  have  increased 
since  these  figures  were  compiled,  there  would  be  $30.00 
available  to  operate  a  five-ton  motor  truck  without  adding 
the  additional  cost  of  railroad  line  haul.  A  five-ton  motor 
truck  can  operate  forty  miles  a  day  for  $30.00  a  day,  taking 
into  account  every  item  of  expense,  covered  in  the  chapters 
on  cost,  and  with  average  roads,  average  congestion  and 
average  loading  and  unloading  conditions.  It  would  seem 
therefore  that  the  railroad  official  may  have  been  even  a 
little  conservative  in  his  estimate  of  an  average  of  forty 
miles.  Hard  level  roads,  reasonably  free  from  congestion, 
and  capacity  loads  in  each  direction,  will  perhaps  more  than 
double  this  distance,  especially  when  conditions  are  such 
that  trailers  can  be  used. 

At  any  rate  we  can  now  see  why  the  short-haul,  less- 
than-car-load  freight,  is  not  profitable  to  the  railroad.  It 

53 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

costs  them  more  than  they  get  for  it.  And  with  present 
methods  it  clutters  up  their  terminals  so  that  everything 
and  everybody  is  delayed. 

In  connection  with  all  of  this  it  is  especially  interesting 
to  note  that  the  motor  truck  will  not  only  aid  the  railroads 
in  solving  the  short  haul  problem,  but  that  it  will  also 
help  them  in  clearing  their  terminals  of  all  freight  so  that 
what  they  do  handle  will  move  more  expeditiously. 

An  example  of  how  the  motor  truck  can  be  applied  to 
terminal  work  to  advantage  has  been  afforded  in  connec- 
tion with  transferring  freight  to  and  from  the  various 
terminals  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


Cincinnati  terminal  motor  truck  operation.  Truck  with  loaded  removable 
body  leaving  a  railroad  platform.  14  truck  chasses  operating  continuously 
handle  225  bodies,  replacing  115  slow-moving  horse-drawn  vehicles  and  75 
freight  cars  and  avoiding  waits  while  freight  is  being  sorted  into  the  bodies. 

Fourteen  motor  truck  chasses  are  now  used  where 
formerly  it  required  115  slow  moving  horse  drawn  vehicles 
and  75  freight  cars  to  transfer  freight  from  terminal  to 

54 


THE   MOTOR   TRUCK   AND   THE   RAILROAD 

terminal.  This  has  been  accomplished  through  the  use  of 
demountable  bodies,  225  of  which  are  being  handled  by 
the  14  chasses.  The  chasses  are  operated  continuously. 
They  do  not  wait  while  the  freight  is  being  sorted  into  the 
bodies. 

With  this  system,  street  congestion  has  been  lessened, 
cars  released  for  main  line  work,  transfers  speedily  made, 
damaged  freight  reduced,  platform  space  cut  down  and 
yet  the  freight  has  been  handled  and  transferred  at  a  lower 
cost  than  before.  To  substantiate  these  claims,  note  the 
following  from  the  annual  report  of  Walter  D.  Hines, 
formerly  director-general  of  railroads : 

"The  motor  terminal  system  at  Cincinnati,  providing 
for  the  handling  of  freight  between  the  various  terminals 
by  motor  trucks  with  removable  bodies,  was  inaugurated 
May  10th,  1919,  and  is  working  satisfactorily.  Some  of 
the  advantages  are  quick  despatch  of  freight ;  saving  of 
two  handlings;  50  per  cent,  decrease  in  damage  to  freight 
in  loading  and  unloading,  and  a  decrease  of  about  15  per 
cent,  per  ton  in  cost  of  handling." 

This  installation  of  motor  trucks  is  a  remarkable  demon- 
stration of  the  fact  that  they  can  be  used  to  advantage  in 
extremely  short  hauls  under  congested  conditions. 

In  Cincinnati,  the  six  railroads  entering  the  district 
operate  12  main  freight  stations  and  9  sub-stations.  The 
minimum  distance  between  the  main  stations  is  one-half 
mile.  The  maximum  is  2J^  miles.  The  minimum  distance 
between  main  stations  and  sub-stations  of  the  various 
roads  is  2J^  miles  and  the  maximum  9^  miles.  The 
average  distance  of  haul  between  the  main  stations  is  one 
mile;  between  the  main  stations  and  sub-stations  is  about 
3 J/2  miles. 

If  it  were  not  for  the  removable  body  feature  it  can 
readily  be  seen  that  motor  trucks  could  not  very  well  fit 
into  a  congested  short  haul  condition  of  this  kind.  They 
would  be  standing  still  about  90  per  cent,  of  the  time.  We 

55 


-3    o 

II 


o 


THE   MOTOR   TRUCK  AND   THE   RAILROAD 

discuss  in  the  Chapter  on  " Bodies"  and. in  the  Chapter  in 
" Loading  and  Unloading  Devices"  how  necessary  it  is  to 
keep  a  motor  truck  moving  to  get  the  most  efficient  use 
out  of  it. 

Store-door  deliver}^  (which  would  probably  help  in  re- 
moving congestion  at  the  railroad  receiving  and  shipping 
stations  to  such  an  extent  that  railroad,  shipper  and  re- 
ceiver would  greatly  benefit)  will  no  doubt  come  sooner 
than  otherwise  would  be  the  case,  because  of  the  avail- 
ability of  the  motor  truck. 

Much  of  the  costly  delay — costly  to  shipper,  receiver  and 
railroad  alike —  is  caused  by  the  piling  up  of  freight  on  the 
platforms  or  by  freight  held  in  the  cars  awaiting  the  pleas- 
ure of  the  receiver.  Under  the  present  system,  when 
freight  is  received  the  consignee  is  notified  by  mail  by  the 
railroad  companj^.  This  takes  time,  and  despite  the 
penalties  imposed  the  consignee  does  not  always  act 
promptly  to  come  and  pick  it  up.  As  a  consequence  there 
is  usually  a  congestion  of  freight  on  the  platforms  or  in 
the  stations  and  this  situation  is  made  worse  because  of  the 
delays  caused  the  truckmen  in  the  effort  to  locate  their 
freight.  Because  of  these  long  delays  it  has  usually  been 
found  economical  to  use  horse-drawn  vehicles  in  this  work. 

Again,  the  consignment  of  freight  may  be  only  part  of  a 
horse  drawn  truck  load.  Remember  a  motor  truck  can 
only  be  employed  to  the  best  advantage  when  it  can  be 
kept  moving  with  capacity  loads.  Consider  again  the 
truck  transportation  laws  of  cost  as  given  in  Chapter  III 
and  it  will  be  apparent  that  motor  truck  ton-mile  costs 
decrease  as  the  truck  capacity  increases.  Chapter  II  on 
Cost  Factors  tells  why. 

Now,  store-door  delivery  and  collection  simply  means 
that  instead  of  the  railroads  piling  the  freight  up  at  the 
stations  and  expecting  the  receivers  to  pick  it  up,  the  rail- 
road itself  will  deliver  the  freight  from  the  stations,  to  the 
door  of  the  receiver  and  pick  it  up  from  the  door  of  the 

57 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

shipper,  all  as  part  of  its  service.  This  service  would  be 
performed  either  by  railroad-owned  trucks  or  by  well 
organized  and  well  managed  trucking  organizations,  di- 
rected to  a  large  extent  by  the  railroads. 

With  such  a  scheme  in  effect  the  community  could  be 
zoned,  certain  trucks  assigned  to  each  zone,  and  the  freight 
destined  for  each  zone  would  be  immediately  assigned  to 
and  loaded  into  the  truck  going  into  that  zone.  Thus, 
platform  delays  would  be  eliminated,  truck  capacity  loads 
be  made,  and  the  motor  truck  be  made  use  of;  and  hence 
station  delivery  costs  would  be  reduced  and  street  con- 
gestion would  be  lessened.  The  same  trucks  would  collect 
in  their  respective  zones  and  by  the  same  token  cut  down 
incoming  delays  and  costs. 

I      The  motor  truck  affords  a  means  of  making  store-door 
i  deli  very  and  collection  efficient.     All  that  is  needed  is  an 
understanding  that  this  is  so  and  the  obstacles  that  have 
obstructed  this  economic  movement  will  disappear. 

The  necessities  of  the  Great  War  increased  still  more  the 
tremendous  congestion  already  existing  at  the  freight 
( stations  and  terminals  in  many  of  the  cities.  It  was  the 
War  that  developed  the  opportunity  for  coordinating  the 
railroads  in  Cincinnati  to  the  extent  of  causing  them  to 
adopt  the  motor  trucking  system  in  use  there  for  trans- 
ferring freight  between  themselves.  The  system  has  al- 
ready been  described,  and  will  be  further  referred  to  in 
the  Chapter  on  Bodies.  And  the  war  came  very  near 
establishing  store-door  delivery  in  the  greater  part  of  New 
York,  where  freight  station  congestion  is  very  great. 

Judge  Harlan,  Interstate  Commerce  Commissioner,  was 
requested  by  the  Director  General  of  Railroads  to  investi- 
gate conditions  in  New  York  and  to  suggest  a  remedy. 
After  several  months  of  close  study,  Judge  Harlan  reported : 

"What  is  urgently  needed  is,  that  all  inbound  freight 
shall  be  taken  away  from  piers  and  terminals  as  it  is  un- 
loaded from  the  cars.  Besides  freeing  the  cars  for  out- 

58 


THE   MOTOR   TRUCK  AND   THE   RAILROAD 

bound  loads  the  station  itself  is  freed  and  room  made  for 
other  inbound  freight." 

The  Judge  closed  his  report  by  recommending  a  store- 
door  delivery  and  pick-up  service  to  be  operated  by  the 
railroads  as  a  railroad  service  under  special  trucking  charges 
fixed  in  their  tariffs.  But  the  ending  of  the  War  also 
ended  this  proposal  and  permitted  the  obstacles  to  crop 
up  again. 

The  theory  of  store-door  delivery  is  so  fundamentally  j 
sound,  that  it  will  not  down.  With  the  aid  of  the  motor 
truck,  with  its  speed,  large  capacity,  economy  of  operation 
and  adaptability  to  removable  bodies,  loading  and  un- 
loading devices,  its  dependability,  flexibility  and  ease  of 
control  through  routing  and  dispatching  methods,  it  is 
going  to  come  soon  and  be  efficient  when  it  does  come, 
just  as  it  has  proved  to  be  in  England  and  Canada  and  as 
it  was  for  45  years  in  our  own  city  of  Baltimore. 

That  it  is  not  now  in  operation  is  just  as  much  the  fault 
of  the  shippers  themselves  and  of  the  truckmen  as  it  is  of 
the  railroads,  and  probably  more  so. 

In  fact,  it  would  seem  that  most  of  the  fault  lies  with  the 
shippers  and  this  comes  very  nearly  meaning  the  general 
public.  As  an  indication  of  the  way  the  railroads  are  be- 
ginning to  look  at  this  situation,  recent  experiments  on 
the  part  of  one  of  our  greatest  railroads,  The  New  York 
Central,  are  worthy  of  note.  This  railroad,  in  an  attempt 
to  relieve  the  congestion  of  traffic  due  to  delays  in  loading 
and  unloading  the  present  type  of  freight  car  with  less- 
than-carload  shipments,  has  in  conjunction  with  the  Amer- 
ican Express  Company  and  the  motor  truck  interests  de- 
veloped and  operated  what  is  known  as  a  "container  car." 
The  experiment  has  been  at  least  successful  enough  to 
warrant  the  construction  of  other  cars  of  a  similar  nature. 

With  this  system,  the  portable  container  is  loaded  and 
locked  on  the  shippers'  premises  and  then  conveyed  by 
motor  trucks  to  the  car  and  lifted  aboard.     At  destination, 
5  59 


THE  MOTOR  TRUCK  AND  THE  RAILROAD 

the  container  is  lifted  from  the  car  to  motor  truck  and 
thence  carried  by  it  direct  to  consignee.  Thus,  greater 
security  for  shipment  in  transit  is  assured,  both  from 
pilferage  and  from  damage;  intermediate  handlings  and 
checkings  are  done  away  with,  boxing  and  crating  is  un- 
necessary, and  the  actual  use  of  cars  in  actual  service  in- 
creased. With  this  system,  the  cars  can  be  very  quickly 
unloaded  by  simply  removing  the  containers  and  quickly 
loaded  again  by  placing  other  containers  on  board.  It 
has  been  stated  that  the  first  car  built  for  this  service 


Loading  removable  container  from  New  York  Central  " container"  car 
to  motor  truck.  This  method  of  transportation  permits  shippers  to  trans- 
port their  goods  without  loss  and  without  damage,  the  containers  being 
loaded  and  locked  on  shippers'  premises. 

61 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

loaded  and  unloaded  its  nine  containers  each  9  ft.  long  by 
6  ft.  wide  by  7  ft.  4  in.  long,  and  having  a  capacity  of  6,000 
Ibs.,  in  40  minutes.  The  most  expert  crew  of  freight 
handlers,  equipped  with  platform  trucks,  could  not  come 
anywhere  near  equalling  this  performance.  And  the 
crudest  kind  of  an  arrangement  was  employed  for  lifting 
the  containers. 

We  can  see  in  this  laudable  effort  a  combination  of  the 
Cincinnati  Terminal  motor  truck  and  removable  body 
operation  and  the  store-door  delivery  plan,  yet  in  the 
combination  each  idea  is  carried  further.  It  is  to  be  noted 
that  the  "car  container'7  idea  embodies  the  same  principle 
as  the  removable  truck  body  idea,  and  aims  to  so  handle  the 
load  that  the  carrier  (whether  truck  or  car)  is  kept  moving 
the  greater  part  of  the  time  with  capacity  loads.  The 
savings  in  such  an  operation  are  tremendous  from  every 
standpoint  and  are  possible  only  with  the  motor  truck, 
coordinated  with  the  railroad. 

Of  course  terminal  machinery  is  necessary  at  the  termi- 
nals as  well  as  at  the  shippers'  platforms  to  permit  of  the 
handling  of  the  containers.  The  Cincinnati  operation 
has  conclusively  proven  that  such  machinery  is  practicable, 
is  so  far  as  the  terminals  are  concerned.  Here,  hoisting 
machinery  has  been  installed  in  almost  every  conceivable 
kind  of  a  station;  and  as  practically  all  of  them  had  been 
in  existence  for  a  number  of  years  and  so  was  not  at  all 
originally  adapted  for  this  work.  Mr.  B.  F.  Fitch,  head 
of  the  Cincinnati  Motor  Terminals  Company,  certainly 
deserves  a  great  deal  of  credit  for  his  work  there.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  are  several  successful  installations 
for  removing  motor  truck  bodies  on  the  premises  of  shippers. 
As  yet,  these  are  not  used  in  connection  with  railroad  work, 
but  simply  to  interchange  loaded  bodies  for  empty  bodies 
or  for  other  incoming  loaded  bodies,  so  as  to  keep  the  truck 
rolling. 

By  this  time  it  should  be  evident  how  important  the 

62 


THE   MOTOR   TRUCK  AND   THE   RAILROAD 

subjects  of  motor  truck  bodies  and  loading  and  unloading 
devices  are.  The  subsequent  chapters  in  these  subjects 
should  be  carefully  read  in  considering  efficient  motor 
truck  transportation. 

Another  application  of  the  motor  truck  to  assist  the 
railroads  in  particularly  light  traffic  territory  is  the  addi- 
tion of  flanged  wheels  to  the  motor  truck  wheels  so  that 
the  truck  can  run  right  onto  the  track  from  the  highway  and 
thence  proceed  under  its  own  power  on  the  rails,  and  then 
run  off  the  rails  onto  the  highway  at  destination.  In  this 
operation  no  transfer  of  freight  or  of  body  is  necessary. 
Experiments  have  proved  the  feasibility  of  such  an  opera- 
tion, in  connection  with  which  no  loading  machinery  is 
necessary  to  transfer  the  truck  load  to  rail  haul. 

The  railroads  are  at  least  alive  to  the  possibilities  of  store- 
door  delivery.  In  fact,  they  may  be  said  to  be,  in  at  least 
some  instances,  working  ahead  of  the  rest  of  us:  and  they 
may  go  as  far  as  they  can  alone.  As  has  been  said,  the 
truckman  and  the  shipper  must  coordinate  to  put  this 
universally  promising  remedial  measure  into  effect. 

The  truckmen,  at  least  the  progressive  thinking  ones, 
are  apparently  doing  some  very  hard  and  favorable  think- 
ing, relative  to  store-door  delivery.  No  less  a  trucking 
authority  than  Mr.  Arthur  G.  McKeever,  one  of  New  York 
City's  most  representative  truckmen  and  Vice-President  of 
the  Merchant  Truckmen's  Bureau  of  New  York,  the 
members  of  which  own  and  operate  7,000  horses  and  2,500 
Motor  Trucks,  in  the  March  1921  issue  of  "  Commercial 
Transportation  News"  (published  by  the  Bureau),  under 
a  section  headed  Store-Door  Delivery,  in  an  article  en- 
titled: "Trucking  Industry  Carefully  Analyzed,"  writes: 

"While  trucking  companies  have  attained  more  or  less 
efficiency  in  spite  of  the  existing  method  of  distributing 
freight  from  the  piers,  the  method  itself  is  as  primitive  as 
when  the  clipper  ship  tied  to  the  wharf,  and  the  captain 
notified  the  owners  of  the  cargo  to  send  for  it. 

63 


MOTOR  TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

"  Parcels  post  and  express  companies  carry  from  the  con- 
signor to  the  consignee's  address.  Freight  arrives  at  the 
carrier  terminal  and  there  the  movement  of  it  by  the  carrier 
stops,  and  must  be  completed  by  the  owner  of  the  mer- 
chandise. 

"This  interruption,  as  against  a  continued  movement  of 
the  freight,  means  for  the  carrier  higher  terminal  charges 
because  of  added  risk  of  pilferage  and  breakage,  more  labor 
for  assorting,  rehandling,  checking  and  clerical  work,  more 
space  in  which  to  handle,  and  the  expense  of  sending  out 
notices  of  arrival.  Furthermore,  the  inability  of  the  carrier 
to  move  the  freight  immediately  upon  arrival  often  re- 
sults in  congestion  which  backs  up  freight  on  the  road.  In 
trucking,  we  find  delays  at  piers  in  locating  freight  and 
arranging  for  its  delivery,  that  routes  are  duplicated  and 
that  trucks  move  partly  loaded.  All  of  these  facts  will 
continue  to  exert  an  economic  pressure  to  bring  about  the 
movement  of  freight  from  the  point  of  origin  to  final  desti- 
nation by  one  agency  or  by  an  organization  working  under 
or  in  conjunction  with  the  carrier.  The  ' store-door 
delivery'  which  provides  for  this  has  been  widely  dis- 
cussed and  plans  are  now  actively  in  progress  for  its 
development." 

It  is  estimated  that  a  freight  car  spends  9  per  cent,  of 
its  time  in  the  repair-shops,  37  per  cent,  in  the  hands  of 
the  shipper  or  receiver,  43  per  cent,  between  points  of 
loading  and  terminals  and  only  11  per  cent,  from  terminal 
to  terminal,  or  actually  hauling  on  the  main  line. 

These  figures  again  show  why  the  railroad  short  haul  is  so 
nprofitable,  and  the  extreme  necessity  of  cutting  down 
the  time  of  loading  and  unloading  freight  cars.  The  motor 
truck  can  assist  the  railroads  in  both  of  these  respects,  and 
in  behalf  of  the  distributor  and  the  consumer  it  should  be 
coordinated  with  the  railroad  to  this  extent  at  least.  Let 
us  forget,  for  the  time  being  anyway,  that  it  has  any  eco- 
nomic place  in  the  railroad  long  haul,  except  in  unusual  cases. 

64 


THE   MOTOR   TRUCK   AND   THE   RAILROAD 

The  motor  truck  will  have  made  a  real  achievement,  if 
it  assists  in  solving  the  branch  line,  the  stub  end,  the  rail- 
road short  haul  and  the  terminal  problems.  (For  a  further 
discussion  of  how  the  motor  truck  can  assist  in  the  branch 
line,  stub-end,  and  light  traffic  territory  fields,  see  Chapter 
1  on  the  Future  of  the  Motor  Truck  and  Chapter  XIV  on 
the  Motor  Truck  and  the  Farmer.)  After  a  further  de- 
velopment of  real  highways,  pneumatic  tires  and  truck 
chasses  adapted  to  them,  and  of  trailers,  we  can  begin  to 
think  of  the  field  of  the  motor  truck  in  railroad  long  hauls. 


Go 


CHAPTER   VIII 
THE  VALUE  OF  HIGHWAY  TRANSPORT  SURVEYS 

WHAT  follows  is  an  address  made  by  the  author  at  the 
annual  convention  of  the  National  Highway  Traffic  As- 
sociation and  the  highway  transport  conference  of  the 
National  Automobile  Chamber  of  Commerce,  held  on 
January  29,  1920,  in  Chicago: 

To  give  a  concrete  picture  of  the  intrinsic  wealth  of  the 
world,  statisticians  sometimes  resort  to  the  device  of  tabu- 
lating the  debts  that  are  carried  by  the  various  nations. 
The  world  war,  by  demonstrating  the  staggering  total  of 
debt  which  the  fighting  nations  could  shoulder  and  still 
remain  economically  sound,  was  a  revelation  of  uncounted 
resources  in  world  wealth  both  to  the  laity  and  to  many 
business  men  who  had  considered  themselves  well  informed. 

In  the  field  of  highway  transport,  there  has  been  a 
colossal  number  of  failures,  and  reports  of  new  transporta- 
tion companies  that  have  failed  are  received  almost  daily. 
If  these  debts,  the  money  losses  represented  by  these 
failures — failures  due  in  a  large  part  to  the  absence  of 
transport  surveys — were  the  sole  reason  for  the  develop- 
ment of  such  surveys,  their  value  would  run  into  millions. 

Insurance  against  failure  is,  however,  but  a  small  part 
of  the  real  value  of  highway  transport  surveys.  Many 
companies  in  existence  today  would,  if  such  investigations 
were  generally  resorted  to,  be  able  to  render  greater  service 
to  the  public  and  make  increasing  profits  for  themselves, 
and  these  surveys  would  undoubtedly  establish  the  de- 
sirability of  highway  transportation  lines  where  as  yet 
such  lines  have  not  even  been  thought  of. 

The  prevalence  of  failures,  paralleling  the  failures  in 
the  automotive  industry  in  its  early  days,  and  the  number 
of  lines  that  are  operating  with  a  minimum  of  benefit  to 

66 


HIGHWAY  TRANSPORT   SURVEYS 

themselves  and  to  their  public,  indicates  only  the  most 
cursory  analysis  of  the  territory  to  be  served,  or  no  analysis 
at  all.  Many  firms  are  floundering  without  chart  or  com- 
pass and  we  should  all  do  all  in  our  power  to  correct  the 
prevalent  opinion  that  all  that  is  necessary  is  to  buy  a 
motor  truck  of  any  make  you  please  and  any  capacity 
offered,  to  start  it  operating  over  any  road  available,  during 
any  time  of  the  day  or  week  when  the  driver  feels  like  it, 
and  to  charge  any  price  for  his  services  that  may  come  into 
his  head  just  so  long  as  it  is  lower  than  any  other  price 
charged  for  transportation  between  the  points  in  question. 

Just  as  long  as  the  public  has  this  picture  of  motor  trans- 
port lines,  just  so  long  will  the  motor  truck  incompletely 
realize  its  effectiveness.  That  it  can  be  effective  has  been 
proven  beyond  a  doubt.  As  a  mechanical  device  it  has 
demonstrated  its  dependability  and  durability  and  we  have 
enough  experience  to  know  that  economically  it  can  per- 
form, and  must  be  made  to  perform  more  and  more,  its 
function  as  part  of  the  transportation  system  of  this 
country. 

We  are  considering  the  value  of  highway  transport  sur- 
veys at  a  time  when  many  business  problems  of  vital  im- 
portance are  pressing  for  solution.  Living  costs  are  high. 
Labor  is  scarce.  The  railroad  car  shortage  is  acute,  and 
the  thousand  problems  of  production  are  crowding  in 
upon  us  daily.  In  all  of  these  problems  of  our  complex 
business  life,  there  is  no  factor  that  affects  every  phase  of 
economic  activity  more  fundamentally  than  does  trans- 
portation. It  is,  we  might  say,  the  very  life  blood  of 
business;  and  everything  that  we  can  do  to  increase  trans- 
portation facilities,  decrease  transportation  costs,  and 
shorten  the  time  in  transit,  is  a  vital  benefit.  Highway/ 
transport  surveys  are,  then,  not  only  desirable,  but  at  the 
present  juncture  of  business  conditions,  fundamentally 
necessary. 

If  we  are  to  survey  the  field  in  the  broadest  and  most 

67 


TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

constructive  manner,  we  must  do  so  in  conjunction  with 
a  survey  of  other  and  longer  established  means  of  trans- 
portation, especially  the  steam  and  electric  railways.  As 
'an  aid  to  these  already  existing  systems,  extending  their 
.usefulness  in  many  territories,  and  even  replacing  them 
,'where  such  practice  proves  economically  desirable,  the 
motor  truck  has  a  tremendous  field  of  usefulness.  Just 
where  this  usefulness  begins  and  ends,  how  to  cover  all 
territories  thoroughly  and  yet  avoid  duplication  of  effort, 
can  only  be  ascertained  by  complete  and  far-reaching 
surveys. 

Traffic  experts  of  the  railroads  themselves  are  giving 
deep  thought  to  the  availability  of  the  motor  truck  in 
supplementing  their  present  facilities.  The  present  short- 
age of  both  track  mileage  and  of  freight  cars  makes  the 
subject  a  most  pressing  one  for  the  railroads  and  a  most 
encouraging  one  for  us  who  are  interested  more  especially 
in  the  automotive  branch  of  transportation. 

According  to  figures  from  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission,  the  total  single  track  mileage  of  the  United 
States,  January  1,  1918,  was  253,626  miles;  and  statistics 
show  that  the  railroad  mileage  in  this  country  has  recently 
decreased  instead  of  increased.  Last  year  689  miles  of 
line  were  abandoned.  This  exceeds  by  three  miles  the 
mileage  of  new  lines  built  during  the  year.  Furthermore, 
1919  was  the  third  year  in  succession  in  which  reports 
have  shown  the  mileage  abandoned  to  have  exceeded  the 
mileage  of  new  lines  built.  During  the  three  years  from 
1917  to  1919  inclusive,  operation  was  abandoned  on  3,319 
miles  of  line;  and  in  the  same  period  only  2,386  miles  in 
extensions,  branches,  and  new  lines  were  completed  and 
placed  in  service.  Thus  during  this  period,  there  has  been 
an  actual  decrease  of  933  miles  in  the  mileage  of  railroads 
in  the  United  States.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  this 
tendency  to  decrease  railroad  mileage  is  shown  in  all  three 
railroad  districts — eastern,  southern,  and  western. 

68 


HIGHWAY  TRANSPORT   SURVEYS 

These  figures  are  taken  from  Railway  Age,  an  authority 
on  steam  railroad  construction  and  operation.  This 
authority  is  also  responsible  for  the  statement  that  the 
greatest  freight  car  surplus  ever  recorded  on  the  American 
railroads  occurred  in  March,  1919,  when  there  were 
450,000  cars  idle;  that  today  there  is  a  shortage  of  570,000 
cars,  that  the  railroads  are,  at  present,  unable  to  handle 
all  the  traffic  that  is  offered  to  them:  and  that  while  the 
present  traffic  is  unusually  heavy,  further  increase  can  be 
expected  within  the  next  few  years.  Records  of  past 
performances  indicate  that  the  future  business  cannot  be 
handled  without  serious  shortages  of  equipment  unless  a 
great  many  additional  cars  are  acquired. 

In  addition  to  this  tremendous  freight  car  shortage  there 
is  also  a  great  shortage  in  motive  power.  It  is  estimated 
that  nearly  8,000  units  of  60,000  pounds  average  tractive 
effort  should  be  built  during  the  next  three  years  to  take 
care  of  freight  traffic  alone. 

Director  General  Walker  D.  Hines,  of  the  United  States 
Railroad  Administration,  is  quoted  in  an  address  before 
the  American  Railway  Guild  on  November  18th,  as  saying: 

"As  well  as  I  can  estimate  the  situation,  I  believe  we 
are  likely  to  have  a  large  railroad  traffic  in  this  country  for 
some  time  to  come.  During  the  war  many  of  the  normal 
demands  of  the  public  had  to  go  unsatisfied ;  there  was  much 
building  which  had  to  be  postponed  and  many  sorts  of 
activities  had  to  remain  in  abeyance.  The  opportunity 
has  now  come  to  satisfy  those  demands,  and  the  building 
that  is  beginning  to  develop  and  the  other  activities  which 
are  now  getting  back  to  a  normal  basis  create  a  demand  for 
a  very  large  railroad  traffic.  So  I  think  the  railroads  must 
be  prepared  to  handle  a  large  business  for  a  considerable 
period." 

Railway  Age  is  also  responsible  for  the  statement  that: 

11  Insufficient  terminal  facilities  constitute  a  weak  link 

69 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

in  the  American  transportation  system.  Under  govern- 
ment control  the  consolidation  of  forces  and  facilities  was 
greatly  expanded. 

"The  outlook  for  a  continuance  of  unification  is  not 
propitious,  the  consensus  of  opinion  being  that  it  is  an 
excellent  idea  but  impossible  of  realization  following  return 
of  roads  to  private  management. 

"  Solving  of  the  problem  of  inadequate  terminal  facilities 
and  of  needed  co-ordination  of  their  operation,  is  im- 
perative." 

This  great  shortage  of  freight  cars  and  motive  power  and 
the  insufficiency  of  terminal  facilities,  in  the  face  of  in- 
creased traffic,  indicates  that  the  motor  truck  and  the 
highway  must  be  more  extensively  used  than  at  present  if 
the  business  of  the  nation  is  to  be  kept  moving  in  the 
manner  that  it  should.  That  it  shall  be  kept  moving  is 
absolutely  necessary  to  the  life  of  business  and  its  con- 
tinued growth. 

If  we  compare,  for  a  moment,  the  total  highway  mileage 
in  the  country  with  the  railroad  mileage,  which  is  as  ten 
to  one,  and  if  we  also  consider  the  flexibility  of  the  motor 
truck  as  against  rail  operation  and  that  one  method  of 
transport  is  quite  as  dependable  as  the  other,  we  can  begin 
to  realize  the  work  that  highway  transport  should  be  made 
to  do. 

In  this  connection  it  is  also  interesting  to  note  that  the 
freight  car  makes  an  average  of  but  fifteen  miles  a  day  and 
that  the  average  tons  per  loaded  car  is  less  than  28.  From 
this  we  can  get  an  even  better  picture  of  how  the  motor 
truck  can  greatly  assist  the  railroads  in  moving  the  traffic 
of  the  country. 

I  do  not  believe  that  the  motor  truck  should  compete 
with  the  railroads,  as  a  general  proposition,  but  I  do  be- 
lieve that  they  should  be  operated  when  it  can  be  shown 
that  it  is  more  economical  for  such  operation  to  take  place. 

70 


HIGHWAY  TRANSPORT   SURVEYS 

By  economical  I  mean  where  the  motor  truck,  as  compared ! 
with  the  railroads,  can  cut  down  the  time  of  delivery,  and 
make  such  delivery  more  frequently  and  at  less  cost. 

When  we  realize  the  number  of  absolute  business  geniuses 
who  have  devoted  their  lives  to  railroad  transportation 
problems,  and  then  realize  the  extent  to  which  highway 
transportation  can  be  employed  to  supplement  and  ex- 
tend the  usefulness  of  these  same  lines,  we  have  a  prospect 
before  us  broad  enough  to  satisfy  the  most  ambitious  and 
those  with  the  highest  ideals. 

After  studying  the  steam  railroads,  in  considering  the 
motor  truck  as  an  aid  to  existing  means  of  transportation, 
a  highway  transport  survey  would  concern  itself  with  the 
relation  of  highway  transport  to  electric  railway  service. 

The  electric  railway  situation  in  the  cities  and  suburban 
and  rural  districts  of  this  country  is  in  a  very  chaotic  con- 
dition. Many  lines  have  been  abandoned;  others  thrown 
into  the  hands  of  receivers,  fares  raised  and  service  curtailed 
— all  to  the  great  disadvantage  of  the  travelling  public. 
I  am  quite  sure  that  local  surveys  would  frequently  in- 
dicate that  highway  transport  in  the  form  of  motor  busses 
can  very  greatly  relieve  this  situation. 

In  a  recent  issue  of  the  " Electric  Railway  Journal"  an 
authority  on  the  electric  railway  industry,  the  assistant 
to  the  president  of  the  railway  company  in  one  of  our 
large  cities,  in  discussing  how  busses  are  run  in  that  city  in 
connection  with  the  railway,  makes  the  following  statement : 

"It  is  believed  the  motor  bus  is  here  to  stay,  that  its 
use  is  going  to  increase  largely  and  that  the  logical  people  to 
handle  and  develop  it  are  those  who  have  been  trained  and 
received  their  experience  in  street  railway  operation.  It 
behooves  the  progressive  street  railway  manager  to  study 
the  motor  bus  situation  and  be  prepared  to  meet  it  and  to 
use  it  as  an  auxiliary  to  his  other  operations,  rather  than 
have  to  fight  it  as  a  competitor." 

71 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

The  busses  in  the  city  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  a  city  of  400,000 
people,  carried  16,000,000  passengers  the  first  half  of  last 
year  and  statistics  from  several  other  cities  indicate  that 
the  bus  surely  is  here  to  stay. 

Yet  many  operations  of  this  kind  have  been  inaugurated 
and  have  failed,  or  are  not  operating  to  the  best  advantage 
of  the  general  public.  The  proper  kind  of  survey  will,  in 
most  instances,  prevent  such  failures  and  cause  the  success- 
ful operators  to  give  even  better  service  and  be  more  effi- 
cient and  point  the  way  to  where  new  operations  are  de- 
sirable and  how  to  successfully  inaugurate  them. 

No  general  survey  of  the  field  of  highway  transport  would 
be  complete  that  left  out  of  account  its  use  in  districts  now 
without  rail  facilities.  Mines,  forests,  and  quarries  situ- 
ated in  remote  sections  are  generally  exploited  by  big  or- 
ganizations with  financial  backing  sufficient  to  solve  their 
own  transportation  problems,  and  many  of  them  are  finding 
their  solution  in  the  use  of  the  motor  truck. 

In  the  farming  sections,  however,  where  the  productive 
unit  is  comparatively  small,  there  has  not  been  the  same 
incentive  for  big  business  to  make  a  thorough  survey  of 
conditions  and  here  there  is  a  tremendous  field  of  op- 
portunity. 

The  same  factors  that  affect  the  big  manufacturing  in- 
stitutions in  the  industrial  centers — rising  costs,  labor 
shortage,  and  lack  of  adequate  transportation  facilities — 
affect  equally  the  producers  in  the  fields.  The  situation 
is  serious  and  at  any  time  may  become  acute.  Every  help 
that  can  be  given  to  the  producer  of  food-stuffs  adds  to 
the  well-being  of  the  nation. 

Some  one  in  authority  has  said  that  if  the  labor  situation 
on  the  farms  is  not  relieved  in  some  manner,  that  in  a  short 
time,  for  a  certain  period,  some  of  those  in  commercial  and 
industrial  life  will  have  to  assist  the  farmer  in  harvesting 
his  crops  if  we  are  to  obtain  a  sufficient  amount  of  farm 
products.  One  answer  to  this,  and  probably  the  most 

72 


HIGHWAY    TRANSPORT   SURVEYS 

logical  one,  is  so  to  arrange  the  farmer's  transportation 
that  it  will  be  unnecessary  for  him  to  take  labor  from  his 
farm  to  perform  this  function,  as  heretofore.  A  proper 
use  of  the  motor  truck  and  the  highway  will  go  a  long  way 
toward  meeting  this  problem. 

Our  present  system  of  food  distribution  is  probably  the 
most  expensive  the  world  has  ever  known.  That  the  motor 
truck  can  reduce  such  costs  has  been  proven  absolutely 


Pneumatic  tired  motor  trucks  operated  by  the  Post-Office  Department 
are  helping  the  country  folk  to  cheaper,  more  dependable  and  increased 
transportation  and  communication. 

by  the  Government  itself.  The  savings  effected  by  As- 
sistant Postmaster  Blakeslee  in  his  actual  demonstration 
of  highway  transport  lines  from  some  of  the  rural  dis- 
tricts in  Pennsylvania  to  Philadelphia  and  Washington  are 
significant,  to  say  the  least.  On  an  exhibit  recently  shown 
the  Committee  on  Post  Roads  and  Postal  Service  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  by  Mr.  Blakeslee,  of  41  trips 

73 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

made  by  the  motor  vehicle  truck  routes,  a  saving  of  $6,612 
to  the  consumer  was  the  result.  Added  to  this  was  the 
time  saved  to  the  farmers  who  had  their  produce  taken  from 
their  gates  to  the  market  and  who  were  thus  enabled  to 
continue  performing  actual  work  on  their  farms.  Just 
previous  to  the  inauguration  of  these  routes  by  the  Post 
Office  Department,  I  helped  to  make  a  survey  of  part  of 
this  district  which  indicated  the  savings  later  effected. 
Yet  the  people  there  did  not  realize  how  materially  they 
could  be  assisted  until  this  investigation  had  been  made. 

Speaking  of  railroads,  I  was  reminded  a  minute  ago  of  a 
story  which  no  doubt  many  of  you  have  heard,  of  the  sturdy 
freight  engine  which  was  pulling  a  long  line  of  freight  cars 
up  the  eastern  rise  of  the  Great  Divide.  As  it  struggled 
with  its  burden  up  the  long  slope,  it  encouraged  itself  by 
repeating:  "I  think  I  can;  I  think  I  can;  I  think  I  can.7' 
As  it  approached  the  top  it  puffed  and  snorted  and  caught 
its  breath  and  gasped  once  more:  "I — Think — I — Can." 

Then  as  it  careened  merrily  down  the  western  slope  it 
chuckled  to  itself:  "I  thought  I  could;  I  thought  I  could; 
I  thought  I  could." 

For  your  relief  and  edification,  I  might  say  that  in  follow- 
ing my  thought  you  have  already  reached  the  peak  and  if 
you  can  hold  out  for  a  few  minutes  more  you  will  be  able  to 
join  in  chorus  with  the  engine  and  say:  "I  thought  I  could; 
I  thought  I  could;  I  thought  I  could." 

We  have  traveled  far  in  considering  transportation  sur- 
veys in  connection  with  farm  and  forest,  mine  and  quarry, 
steam  and  electric  railways,  and  will  close  our  inquiry 
by  getting  right  down  to  cases  and  see  what  a  survey  can 
do  for  the  individual  business. 

The  hauling  and  delivery  problem  of  every  business 

'should  be  surveyed  in  order  that  the  most  efficient  means 

of  transportation  may  be  used,  particularly  with  reference 

to  highways.     It  is  astonishing  how  little  most  concerns 

know  about  the  cost  of  the  delivery  and  hauling  end  of 

74 


HIGHWAY  TRANSPORT   SURVEYS 

their  business.  The  concern  that  usually  knows  its  labor,/ 
production,  accounting  and  selling  costs,  has  many  times 
no  idea  of  what  its  delivery  cost  is.  Yet  the  delivery  and 
hauling  part  of  the  business  usually  amounts  to  a  great 
deal.  A  survey  of  such  a  problem  will  often  indicate  that 
it  would  be  more  economical  to  ship  or  deliver  by  motor 
truck  than  by  horse-drawn  vehicles,  railroad  freight  or 
express,  or  by  boat  or  electric  railway.  In  considering  a 
transportation  system  the  nature  and  character  of  the 
business  it  serves  should  be  considered  first. 

The  proper  kind  of  a  survey  will  bring  out  all  the  items 
entering  into  the  cost  which  would  never  be  brought  out 
in  any  other  way.  For  instance,  I  had  occasion  the  other 
day  to  make  a  survey  of  the  shipping  part  of  a  business 
concerned  with  the  rolling  of  steel  products.  This  was  a 
large  concern  with  a  railroad  siding  right  into  its  plant. 
Its  products  take  a  very  low  freight  rate  and  its  deliveries 
are  mostly  to  points  located  within  sixty  miles  of  the 
plant.  Yet,  this  survey  showed  that  the  motor  truck 
could  be  used  to  better  advantage  than  the  railroad,  that 
it  could  transport  material  cheaper  and  exactly  as  it  was 
wanted. 

The  survey  developed,  for  example,  that  the  average 
cost  per  box  used  to  contain  the  material  was  $1.25  and 
that  the  average  weight  of  these  boxes  was  42  pounds, 
something  that  the  traffic  manager  of  this  concern  had 
never  considered  before  in  his  transport  problem.  Motor 
trucks  are  now  being  used  by  this  company,  thus  releasing 
several  freight  cars  for  use  where  the  railroad  is  the  more 
economical  means  of  transport. 

The  proper  sized  truck,  the  most  adaptable  kind  of 
body,  and  the  use  of  loading  and  unloading  devices  will 
many  times  serve  to  handle  the  hauling  problem  more 
economically  and  more  efficiently. 

Such  a  survey  should  take  us  behind  the  lines,  so  to 
speak — back  of  the  loading  platform  into  the  shipping 
6  75 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

room  where  we  could  consider  such  items  as  boxing,  crat- 
ing, sorting,  assembling,  routing,  internal  delivery,  etc. 
It  is  here  that,  oftentimes,  a  study  will  show  how  the  use 
of  highway  transport  can  cut  down  the  cost  of  the  work 
leading  up  to  placing  the  material  on  the  truck  or  on  the 
car. 

In  making  surveys  relative  to  the  establishment  of  high- 
way freight  transport  lines,  the  following  items  should  be 
carefully  considered: 

All-year-round  road  conditions,  including  bridges. 

Rail  freight  and  express  rates. 

Frequency  of  existing  service. 

Time  of  delivery  of  existing  service. 

Amount  and  kind  of  freight  moving  in  both  directions 

between  the  points  in  question. 
Running  time  possible. 
Sentiment  of  the  district  under  consideration  toward 

existing  and  proposed  service. 
Sufficient  financial  support. 
Traffic  laws,  ordinances  and  regulations. 

Road  conditions  will  determine  the  kind  of  equipment 
that  can  be  operated.  The  amount  and  kind  of  freight 
will  determine  the  size  of  the  unit,  and  number  necessary, 
from  which  can  be  determined  the  expense,  to  which  should 
be  added  (this  is  most  often  omitted)  overhead  charges, 
by  which  I  mean  the  cost  of  soliciting  business,  storing 
and  handling  of  same,  superintendents,  etc.,  which  for 
such  lines  runs  very  high.  The  cost  of  operation  will 
determine  the  rate.  This  compared  with  existing  rates 
and  services  will  determine  whether  or  not  business  can 
be  secured  under  such  costs.  The  possibility  of  pro- 
moting return  loads  should  not  be  forgotten.  This,  you 
will  note,  is  quite  different  from  the  usual  method  of  arbi- 
trarily determining  a  rate,  which  is  probably  that  charged 

76 


HIGHWAY  TRANSPORT   SURVEYS 

in  some  other  locality  and  without  knowledge  of  actual 
conditions. 

In  a  survey  recently  made  of  the  possibility  of  establish- 
ing inter-city  motor  truck  routes  out  of  a  certain  city,  we 
concluded  that  the  lowest  capacity  truck  that  could  be 
operated,  considering  the  rate  that  could  be  obtained, 
would  be  a  three-ton  size.  Yet  the  operators  disregarded 
our  advice  and  started  in  with  two-ton  trucks.  If  loaded 
to  80  per  cent,  of  their  capacity  on  every  trip,  in  both 
directions,  they  couldn't  pay — and  didn't — the  result  being 
the  failure  of  another  line  and  the  loss  of  much  confidence. 

All  this  information  is  very  easy  to  get  if  gone  after  in  the 
proper  way.  Most  communities  now  have  commercial 
organizations  which  will  be  very  glad  to  assist  in  the  ac- 
cumulation of  such  data. 

Reliability  in  such  service  is  absolutely  necessary.  In 
the  case  of  highway  passenger  transport,  the  number  of 
passengers  will  determine  the  seating  capacity  desired  and 
the  frequency  of  operation,  which  together  with  the  length 
of  haul  will  determine  operating  expenses  and,  therefore, 
the  fare  that  must  be  charged.  Here  again  reliable  service 
must  be  inaugurated,  as  reliability  is  important  in  all 
transport  matters. 

There  is  no  more  important  question  before  the  public 
today  than  that  of  highway  transport  surveys  and  if  this 
organization  can  succeed  in  putting  some  interest  into  this 
subject,  it  will  have  accomplished  a  big  work. 


77 


CHAPTER   IX 
BODIES 

UNLESS  there  is  placed  on  the  motor  truck  a  body  suit- 
able to  carry  the  commodity  in  sufficient  bulk  to  equal 
the  rated  load  capacity  of  the  truck,  arranged  to  permit 
quick  loading  and  unloading,  and  designed  to  protect  the 
commodity  and  also  the  truck  mechanism  from  the  com- 
modity, if  necessary,  the  truck  itself  cannot  perform  most 
efficiently  and  economically.  So  it  has  been  said,  and  with 
much  truth,  that  aa  motor  truck  is  only  as  efficient  as  its 
body." 


Transporting  ink  in  bulk  this  truck's  power  pumps  the  ink  out  and  the 
engine's  exhaust  keeps  the  ink  at  a  uniform  temperature.  The  1500  gallons 
can  be  pumped  out  in  20  minutes.  This  method  will  save  the  labor  of  4 
men.  The  truck  will  pay  for  itself  in  a  year.  If  necessary  the  tank  body  can 
be  removed  and  the  chassis  used  for  other  purposes. 

This  fact  is  recognized  to  such  an  extent  that  even  now, 
although  truck  operating  efficiency  is  such  a  new  art,  al- 
most every  special  line  of  business  has  developed  to  quite 

78 


BODIES 

a  considerable  extent,  a  motor  truck  body  suitable  to  its 
own  requirements.  This  development  has  come  with  the 
use  of  motor  trucks,  which  permit  more  liberal  dimensions 
and  greater  body  weights  than  do  horse  drawn  vehicles; 
and  then  again,  the  power  of  the  truck  engine  can  be 
utilized  in  many  instances  by  designing  bodies  that  will 
more  efficiently  handle  some  commodities. 

Special  motor  truck  bodies  have  been  perfected  to  a 
large  degree  for  use  in  the  following  lines  of  business : 

Contracting  Ice  cream 

Lumber  Express 

Meat  Railway  terminal 

Furniture  Inter-city  hauling 

Ice  Manufacturing — perishable 

Coal  Manufacturing — non-perishable 

Dairy  Department  stores 

Metal  Bottled  goods 

Baking  Moving 

Electric  railway  Farming 

Telephone  Passenger  transportation 

Oil  Brick 

Municipal 

It  does  not  take  much  imagination  to  see  that  the  com- 
modities handled  by  this  list  of  businesses,  or  lines  of  trade, 
vary  to  so  great  an  extent  that  it  is  but  natural  that  special 
bodies  should  be  developed  to  meet  their  special  require- 
ments. 

Yet,  many  purchasers  of  motor  trucks  have  not  con- 
sidered the  importance  of  the  body  in  getting  the  most 
efficiency  out  of  the  truck.  And  so,  many  times,  the  truck 
itself  has  been  blamed  for  not  meeting  expectations,  when 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  body  used  has  not  permitted  the 
truck  to  do  its  work  properly. 

We  find  that  an  inadequately  designed  body  will  allow  a 
five  ton  capacity  truck  to  carry  but  three  tons,  although 

79 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

every  foot  of  space  in  the  body  is  occupied.  And  the 
contrary  has  also  worked  out,  that  is,  that  the  body  was  so 
designed  that  when  the  space  was  entirely  taken  up,  the 


Truck  with  body  arranged  for  making  use  of  power  developed  by  its 
engine  for  loading  and  unloading  brick  in  neat  piles.  This  saves  breakages, 
space  and  time.  Note  that  this  device  is  adaptable  to  trucks  of  very  small 
capacity. 

weight  of  the  load  completely  exceeded  the  capacity  of  the 
truck,  thereby  causing  constant  overloading  with  con- 
sequent frequent  heavy  repairs  and  a  short  life.  Or,  the 
body  may  be  designed  right  insofar  as  weight  and  capacity 
are  concerned,  yet  not  designed  so  as  to  properly  distribute 
the  load  on  the  chassis,  thereby  causing  breakages. 

A  motor  truck  cannot  earn  money  or  perform  service 
when  it  is  standing  still.  Its  fixed  costs,  that  is  interest  on 
the  investment,  drivers'  wagers,  garage  charges,  etc.,  go 
on  whether  the  truck  is  operating  or  not,  and  more  in- 
expensive storage  places  than  motor  trucks  can  be  found. 
Motor  trucks  earn  money  and  perform  transportation 
service  only  when  they  are  actually  transporting  something. 
It  is  therefore  necessary  to  keep  them  moving  as  much  as 
possible,  and  the  body  design  can  help  to  speed  up  the 

80 


BODIES 

loading  and  unloading  of  the  commodity  which  is  being 
transported,  and  so  be  instrumental  in  cutting  down  the 
standing  time.  Doors  properly  placed,  and  of  adequate 
dimensions,  help  this  situation,  as  do  racks  and  shelves 
arranged  so  that  part  of  the  load  can  be  loaded  or  unloaded 


Combination  farm  bodies  make  the  truck  more  adaptable  for  farm  usage 
where  there  are  a  variety  of  products  of  different  character  to  be  transported. 
The  above  pictures  a  combination  body  arranged  as  a  "high  grain  tight 
body." 

without  having  to  shift  the  whole  load.  Devices  attached 
to  the  body  that  permit  the  whole  load  to  be  loaded  or 
unloaded  all  at  once  are  particularly  helpful,  in  the  case  of 
special  commodities. 

In  the  case  of  some  commodities,  the  motor  truck  body 
must  be  designed  to  protect  the  commodity.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  motor  trucks  are  used  instead  of  horse 
drawn  vehicles  because  of  their  greater  capacity,  greater 
speed  and  greater  range.  In  order  to  make  full  use  of 

81 


MOTOR  TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

these  advantages,  however,  it  is  necessary  in  the  handling 
of  some  commodities  to  provide  a  body  that  will  give 
proper  protection.  For  instance,  it  would  be  impossible 
to  transport  meats,  ice  cream,  etc.,  over  long  distances 
where  considerable  time  is  consumed,  without  provision 
for  cooling  the  commodity  and  keeping  it  cool.  Again, 
special  bodies  must  be  designed  for  the  transportation  of 


Combination   farm   body   arranged   for    "stock,"   a   water-tight    under- 
body  being  a  feature. 

such  fragile  articles  as  glass  and  furniture,  and  to  protect 
from  those  inclined  to  pilfer,  such  small  and  valuable 
articles  as  bolts  of  silk,  etc. 

Bodies  are  also  designed  actually  to  perform  work,  al- 
though they  may  not  carry  any  commodity,  except  per- 
haps in  the  nature  of  equipment  for  repairs;  such  for  in- 
stance as  those  bodies  carried  on  chasses  employed  on 
electric  railways  and  in  the  telephone  service,  and  used  in 
the  repair  and  erection  of  overhead  wires  and  poles. 

82 


BODIES 

Not  only  have  bodies  been  worked  out  to  suit  the  re- 
quirements of  one  particular  line  of  business  handling  one 
kind  of  commodity,  but  bodies  are  also  being  designed  now 
so  that  they  can  be  adapted  to  handle  several  different 


Combination  farm  body  arranged  to  carry  baskets. 

commodities.  The  increasing  use  of  the  truck  by  farmers 
is  perhaps  more  responsible  for  this  development  than 
anything  else.  Thus  designs  are  now  available  so  that, 
contained  in  one  body,  are  arrangements  so  that  the  body 
can  be  made  tight  enough  to  carry  grain,  high  enough  to 
carry  live  stock,  or  arranged  to  carry  baskets;  and  also 
provision  has  been  made  with  a  rack  so  that  hay  can  be 
carried.  Thus  the  farmer  can  use  a  truck  equipped  with 
such  a  body  in  different  seasons  and  for  his  various  products. 
Combination  dump  and  platform  bodies  have  also  been 
worked  out,  as  have  tank  bodies,  so  that  oil  or  water  can 
be  carried  and  discharged  as  necessary. 

83 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

Important  studies  have  been  made  in  developing  muni- 
cipal motor  truck  bodies, — street  flushers,  road  oilers, 
snow  removers,  sewer  cleaners,  ash  removers,  fire  apparatus, 
etc.  The  motor  truck  has  great  potential  possibilities 
along  these  lines. 


Combination  farm  body  arranged  as  a  "low  grain  tight  body."  With 
the  elevated  sides  lowered  so  as  to  be  parallel  with  the  floor  of  body  it  then 
becomes  a  "hay  rack  body." 

The  transportation  of  passengers  by  motor  truck  has 
also  brought  out  several  body  designs,  both  of  the  single 
deck  and  double  deck  type,  arranged  for  one-man  as  well 
as  for  two-man  operation.  No  doubt,  as  the  utility  of 
the  motor  truck  in  this  field  of  transportation  is  more  and 
more  recognized,  further  improvements  may  be  looked  for 
in  bodies  of  this  type. 

84 


BODIES 


Combination  contractors'  body.  This  body  enables  the  truck  to  be  used 
for  all  kinds  of  construction  work,  thereby  increasing  its  value.  This  illus- 
trates the  truck  arranged  as  an  ordinary  dump  body,  the  power  of  the  truck 
being  used  to  raise  and  lower  the  body. 

There  is  another  type  of  body  the  utility  of  which  is  only 
beginning  to  be  recognized,  that  is  destined  to  play  a  more 
and  more  important  part  in  the  whole  field  of  transporta- 
tion, and  that  is  the  removable  or  demountable  type.  In 
this  type  of  body,  body  as  well  as  load  is  removed  at  one 


Combination  contractors'  body,  arranged  so  that  bulky  commodities  may 
be  carried.  The  body,  although  arranged  for  dump  work,  is  not  confined  to 
work  of  this  kind. 

85 


MOTOR  TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

time,  thus  cutting  down  the  standing  time  of  the  truck 
chassis  to  the  limit.  The  perfection  and  increasing  use  of 
this  type  of  body  is  going  to  permit  of  the  advantageous 


Combination  contractor's  body  arranged  as  a  flat  platform  body,  so  that 
lumber,  pipe,  etc.,  can  be  easily  carried  and  unloaded  from  either  the  rear  or 
side  of  truck. 

use  of  the  motor  truck  in  short  haul  work,  and  is  destined 
to  assist  in  reducing  the  enormous  terminal  costs  of  our 
railroads.  This  type  of  body,  together  with  some  others 
not  here  mentioned  in  very  much  detail,  will  be  discussed  in 
further  detail  in  the  next  Chapter,  which  is  devoted  to 
loading  and  unloading  devices,  under  which  heading,  per- 
haps, they  more  properly  belong. 

It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  motor  truck  bodies 
present  an  excellent  opportunity  to  advertise  the  business 
that  they  serve,  through  either  design,  color,  decoration, 
or  finish.  The  concern  not  taking  advantage  of  this 
phase  of  body  work  is  perhaps  losing  a  golden  opportunity. 

Perhaps  the  most  common  form  of  body  is  the  ordinary 
platform  type  with  removable  stakes  along  the  sides  and 
rear.  They  are  cheaper  and  can  perhaps  be  used  to  trans- 
port a  more  varied  line  of  commodities  than  can  any  other 
type.  These  bodies  are  used  mostly  in  connection  with 
general  trucking  and  for  the  hauling  of  manufactured 
products.  In  these  lines  the  bulk  of  the  articles  to  be 
moved  varies,  and  they  need  no  special  protection.  In 

86 


BODIES 

their  handling,  the  body  itself  can  play  little  part  in  de- 
creasing loading  and  unloading  time  except  to  give  as  much 
freedom  as  possible.  In  case  the  truck  is  called  upon  to 
handle  products  of  a  perishable  nature,  the  body  is  usually 
provided  with  a  top  of  some  description. 

In  selecting  a  body,  the  weight,  bulk,  dimensions  and 
character  of  the  commodity  should  all  be  considered,  as 
well  as  loading  and  unloading  possibilities.  These  factors 


This  truck  leaves  little  doubt  in  the  mind  of  an  observer  as  to  the  char- 
acter of  goods  it  is  delivering. 

have  also  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  capacity  of  truck 
selected;  but  in  this  latter  determination  the  total  daily 
tonnage  and  length  of  haul  must  also  be  considered,  as 
well  as  road  conditions. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  designers  of  the  truck 
chassis,  in  determining'  the  capacity  of  the  truck,  provide 
for  a  body  of  a  definite  limiting  stated  allowable  weight; 
which  should  not  be  exceeded  if  the  rated  capacity  is  to 
be  used  without  overloading.  Thus,  for  example,  it  is 

87 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

usually  permissible  to  use  a  body  not  to  exceed  2500  pounds 
in  weight  on  a  five  ton  capacity  truck. 

It  is  impossible  to  describe  and  discuss  in  this  limited 
book,  every  type  of  body  already  developed,  or  the  possi- 
bilities along  this  line.  The  attempt  has  been  made  here 
simply  to  go  into  this  part  of  the  subject  enough  to  have 


A  tank  body  used  for  transporting  milk.  It  is  filled  through  a  pipe 
and  unloaded  by  gravity  through  a  pipe,  thus  eliminating  the  handling  of 
cans,  spilling  of  milk  and  trouble  of  covering  cans  during  hot  weather  with  wet 
canvas.  The  tank  is  provided  with  manhole  for  cleaning. 

the  reader  realize  the  importance  of  and  the  possibilities 
in  motor  truck  bodies,  and  their  relation  to  motor  truck 
transportation  efficiency  and  economy. 

Use  should  be  made  of  developments  already  effected 
along  these  lines  by  the  motor  truck  operator  or  the  pros- 
pective operator;  and  he  should  recognize  that  with  some 
study  on  his  part  and  with  an  intimate  knowledge  of  his 

88 


BODIES 

own  product,  his  own  loading  and  unloading  facilities, 
and  of  his  transportation  problem  in  general,  he  can  prob- 
ably devise  something  novel  to  meet  his  own  requirements. 
This  the  motor  truck  permits  him  to  do.  There  is  nothing 
cut  and  dried  about  it,  and  improvement  after  improve- 
ment is  bound  to  be  made;  it  is  a  flexible  proposition  all 
the  way  through,  and  herein  lies  its  great  possibilities  and 
interest. 

It  is  quite  as  important  to  pay  attention  to  the  selection 
of  a  motor  truck  body,  as  to  the  kind  and  size  of  chassis 
to  be  used. 


89 


CHAPTER  X 

LOADING  AND  UNLOADING  DEVICES 

A  MOTOR  truck  is  earning  money  for  its  owner  and  per- 
forming an  ^economical  service  only  when  it  is  actually 
moving, — when  its  wheels  are  rolling.  Every  minute  that 
it  is  standing  still  during  the  working  period  means  time 
and  money  lost  compared  with  its  earning  power  when  its 
wheels  are  turning.  Of  course,  the  truck  must  be  trans- 
porting something  in  order  to  perform  a  service.  Of  course, 
some  time  must  be  consumed  in  loading  the  commodity 
on  to  the  truck,  so  that  it  can  be  transported;  and  in  un- 
loading it  so  that  the  commodity  can  be  delivered  and  the 
truck  freed  for  further  service.  The  lower  the  loading  and 
unloading  time,  the  more  trips  a  truck  can  make  in  a  day. 
The  more  trips,  the  more  tonnage;  or  with  a  gross  tonnage, 
the  truck  can  make  longer  trips;  or  by  cutting  down  the 
wasted  time  it  may  be  possible  to  eliminate  a  truck  or  two 
from  a  fleet  of  trucks. 

Therefore  the  motor  truck  operator  should  carefully 
consider  ways  and  means  for  cutting  down  loading  and 
unloading  time.  In  the  previous  chapter  it  was  pointed 
out  how  the  proper  type  of  body  would  facilitate  loading 
and  unloading;  but  there  are  other  devices  as  well  that 
should  be  taken  advantage  of  in  obtaining  economical  and 
efficient  truck  operation.  These  devices  group  themselves 
quite  naturally  into  four  classes : 

1.  Those  devices  by  means  of  which  the  whole  truck  load 

is  loaded  or  unloaded  at  one  time,  en  masse. 

2.  Those  devices  attached  to  the  truck  itself. 

3.  Those  devices  attached  to  the  point  of  loading  or 

unloading. 

4.  Those  devices  which  are  separate  and  movable. 

90 


LOADING  AND   UNLOADING   DEVICES 

In  considering  the  subject  of  loading  and  unloading, 
it  can  be  safely  said  that  not  only  will  these  devices  cut 
down  the  standing  time  of  trucks,  but  that  they  will  also 
reduce  the  cost  of  loading  and  unloading  because  of  their 
ability  to  eliminate  some  of  the  manual  labor,  now  so 
expensive. 

Demountable  or  removable  bodies,  nest  bodies,  and  semi- 
trailers are  devices  which  may  properly  be  considered  as 
being  in  the  first  class  referred  to  above. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  development  in  removable  bodies  is 
the  arrangement  employed  at  the  railroad  terminals  of  one 
of  the  larger  cities,  and  which  was  referred  to  in  the  last 
chapter,  as  a  type  of  body  destined  to  be  of  great  service  in 
railroad  terminal  work.  With  a  removable  body,  the  body 
and  load  together  are  lifted  or  rolled  on  to  andoff  of  the  truck 
chassis,  and  the  loading  and  unloading  of  the  body  accom- 
plished later,  but  in  the  meantime,  while  this  is  going  on,  the 
truck  is  going  on  its  way  with  another  load  in  a  removable 
body.  It  may  take  an  hour  to  load  or  unload  a  body,  depend- 
ing on  the  character  of  the  freight,  how  carefully  it  has  to  be 
stowed,  etc.,  but  it  only  takes  a  few  moments  to  remove  a 
loaded  body  from  the  chassis  and  to  place  another  one 
thereon.  The  loading  and  unloading  device  in  this  in- 
stance merely  consists  of  a  traveling  hoist,  either  hand- 
operated  or  electrically-operated. 

Nest  bodies  are  sometimes  used  with  good  effect  when 
the  commodity  is  light  and  consists  of  several  small  pack- 
ages which  take  time  to  sort  and  pack  properly.  The 
packages  are  packed  into  a  light  body  or  cage  supported 
on  rollers;  and  when  the  packing  is  complete,  the  cage  is 
rolled  into  the  truck  body,  within  which  it  fits,  and  rolled 
out  of  the  truck  body  and  on  to  the  unloading  platform  at 
the  other  end  of  the  route. 

Although  the  semi-trailer  also  meets  another  trans- 
portation function  as  well,  yet  it  can  be  included  in  the 
list  of  loading  and  unloading  devices,  because  the  hauling 
7  91 


LOADING  AND   UNLOADING   DEVICES 


part  of  the  transporting  unit  can  be  hauling  another  trailer 
while  the  first  one  is  being  loaded  and  unloaded,  so  that  the 
hauling  power  plant  is  not  tied  up  for  the  length  of  time 
necessary  to  load  and  unload. 


The  economic  possibilities  of  removable  bodies  extend  even  beyond  the 
truck  and  platform.  With  the  kind  that  can  be  rolled  off  and  on  to  the  truck, 
the  body  can  be  rolled  on  to  an  elevator,  rolled  off  at  the  topmost  floor  and 
loaded  or  unloaded  at  its  farthest  corner.  Many  expensive  handlings  can  thus 
be  saved. 

In  all  three  of  these  types  of  loading  and  unloading  de- 
vices it  should  be  noted  that  no  labor  is  saved,  their  use- 
fulness arising  from  the  fact  that  the  truck  itself  is  standing 
still  only  long  enough  to  place  a  body  with  its  load  on  to  the 
truck  frame,  or  to  attach  it  to  the  truck,  or  vice-versa. 
It  should  also  be  noted  that  with  these  devices  special  ar- 

93 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

rangements  must  be  provided  at  each  end  of  the  route,  if 
the  devices  are  to  be  fully  taken  advantage  of.  This  is 
not  necessary  to  merely  perform  the  actual  loading  and 
unloading  of  the  freight  itself,  because  the  truck,  if  neces- 
sary, can  be  kept  standing  and  the  freight  taken  out  and 
put  in,  in  the  usual  way. 

The  availability  of  the  power  of  the  truck  engine  makes 
it  possible  to  equip  the  truck  itself  with  loading  and  un- 


Illustrating  one  advantage  of  a  semi-trailer.  The  trailer  is  being  unloaded 
of  its  fruit  just  brought  in  from  the  orchard,  while  tractor  is  actually  doing 
work  elsewhere.  Note  unloading  device  used  to  speed  up  unloading  and  to 
cut  down  the  cost  of  labor. 

loading  devices  which  otherwise  could  not  be  taken  ad- 
vantage of.  Thus,  it  is  possible  to  install  on  the  truck, 
power-driven  auxiliary  machinery,  such  as  hoisting  and 
pulling  winches,  cranes,  suction  pumps,  dynamos,  body 
elevating  equipment,  etc. 

With  the  aid  of  winches  and  cranes,  heavy  and  bulky 

94 


LOADING  AND   UNLOADING   DEVICES 

articles  can  be  picked  up,  loaded  and  unloaded  not  only  in 
a  minimum  of  time,  but  also  with  a  great  saving  in  labor 
and  auxiliary  apparatus.  By  making  use  of  the  truck 
power  it  is  possible,  through  the  proper  device,  to  create 
a  suction  which  can  draw  up  to  the  truck  body  the  con- 
tents of  catch  basins  and  cesspools,  or  even  to  draw  the 
ashes  out  of  the  basements  of  buildings.  These  devices 
not  only  cut  down  the  time  necessary  to  do  such  work,  and 
eliminate  much  costly  labor  over  the  old  method,  but  the 


The  overhead  loading  track  and  chain  hoist  with  which  this  truck  is  equipped 
simplifies  loading  the  truck  with  heavy  materials. 

motor  truck  enables  it  to  be  done  in  a  manner  less  injurious 
to  the  health,  not  only  of  the  operators  but  of  the  public 
as  well. 

A  truck  engine  power-driven  hoist  also  enables  the  truck 
body  to  be  tipped  at  one  end  so  that  the  material  referred  to 
above  can  be  dumped  all  at  once.  Dump  trucks  so  oper- 
ated, but  without  the  suction  device,  can  also  be  used  for 
unloading  other  materials,  thus  permitting  a  great  saving 
in  time  and  labor  in  unloading  such  commodities  as  coal, 
building  and  road  making  material,  and  so  forth. 

95 


I 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 


In  order  to  show  the  large  number  of  various  uses  to 
which  the  truck  engine  power  or  "power-take-off"  as  it  is 


Coal  can  be  shot  directly  and  quickly  into  the  bin  from  a  double  lift  body 
on  a  short  wheel  base  truck.  The  short  wheel  base  also  enables  the  truck  to 
maneuver  in  quarters  so  cramped  that  otherwise  motor  truck  operation  would 
be  impossible. 

known,  can  be  put  in  facilitating  loading  and  unloading, 
reference  may  be  made  to  that  by  the  ice  dealer  in  icing 
freight  cars.  Refrigerating  cars  are  usually  iced  from  the 
top,  and  it  has  always  been  rather  difficult  to  perform  this 
work,  especially  when  the  cars  are  away  from  the  permanent 
structures  erected  for  this  purpose.  This  ice  dealer  has  a 
truck  equipped  so  that  the  whole  body  can  be  elevated  by 
the  truck's  own  power  to  a  level  with  the  roof  of  the  car, 
and  then  the  ice  is  easily  slid  out  through  a  door  in  the 
truck  body  to  the  opening  in  the  car  roof.  With  this 
device  two  men  can  easily  and  quickly  ice  a  car. 

In  addition  to  the  power-operated  devices  there  are  a 

98 


LOADING   AND   UNLOADING   DEVICES 

number  of  hand-operated  devices  that  can  also  be  taken 
advantage  of  to  speed  up  loading  and  unloading. 


With  this  elevating  device,  operated  by  the  truck's  power,  one  man  can  ice  a 
refrigerating  car,  isolated  from  regular  equipment  for  this  work. 

Among  those  devices  falling  into  the  third  classification, 
or  which  are  fixed  to  the  loading  and  unloading  points, 
are  cranes  and  hoists  of  various  descriptions,  overhead  con- 
veyors, chutes,  rollers,  etc.  These,  where  possible,  should  be 
arranged  to  load  and  unload  directly  from  and  into  the  truck. 

Portable  conveyors  are  now  on  the  market,  which  can  be 
had  either  air  or  electrically  operated,  and  which  have 
proven  themselves  to  be  of  great  utility  in  cutting  down 
loading  time.  These  conveyors  can  be  placed  alongside  of 
a  pile  of  coal,  for  instance,  and  without  man  power  assist- 
ance load  a  five-ton  truck  in  a  few  moments.  Or  they  can 
be  placed  on  a  dock,  or  in  the  fields,  or  in  the  hold  of  a 

99 


I 

I 

i 

I 

09 

I 


I  a. 

CO 


O 

.s  a 


I! 
r 


I 

1 


LOADING  AND   UNLOADING   DEVICES 

vessel,  and  load  bags  or  boxes  in  very  fast  time  and  with 
a  great  saving  of  labor. 

No  attempt  has  been  made  here  to  present  in  detail  the 
whole  subject  of  time  and  labor-saving  motor  truck  loading 
and  unloading  devices,  or  to  catalogue  and  describe  all 
such  devices  in  use  or  which  might  be  used.  A  book  could 
be  written  on  this  subject  alone,  although  this  phase  of 
motor  truck  transportation  is  in  its  infancy.  As  the  whole 


This  automatic  loader  loads  this  ten-ton  body  in  ten  minutes. 

science  of  this  means  of  transportation  develops,  the  more 
will  be  manifest  the  necessity  for  providing  devices  that 
will  facilitate  and  cheapen  loading  and  unloading.  Further 
developments  will  be  made  along  this  line. 

As  the  truck  becomes  known  in  new  fields,  or  used  to 
a  larger  extent  in  those  fields  in  which  it  is  already  widely 
known,  loading  and  unloading  devices  especially  adapted 
to  the  particular  work  in  hand  will  undoubtedly  be  de- 

101 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 


veloped.     Thus,  for  instance,  we  may  undoubtedly  look 
for  important  developments  in  the  use  of  the  truck  in  the 


A  portable  type  of  mechanical  loading  device  which  handles  any  kind 
of  compact  article.  •  Such  devices  cut  down  labor  costs  and  keep  the  truck 
rolling. 

mining,  lumbering,  tobacco,  sugar,  cotton,  road  building, 
oil  and  other  industries.  The  presence  of  the  truck  power 
plant  makes  it  possible  to  develop  many  devices,  isolated 
though  the  truck  and  its  work  may  be. 

The  main  point  to  be  gotten  out  of  this  chapter  is  that  the 
standing  time  of  the  truck  should  be  cut  down  as  much  as 
possible.  When  the  importance  of  this  point  is  realized, 
the  truck  operator  will  be  quick  to  utilize  those  devices 
already  developed  that  can  meet  his  requirements,  or  if 
there  be  none  already  in  existence,  to  have  one  developed 
for  him  or  to  devise  one  himself,  not  forgetting  the  ability 
of  the  truck  power  plant  to  assist  him. 

102 


CHAPTER   XI 

MAINTENANCE 

A  MOTOR  truck  is  a  high  grade  piece  of  machinery  and  a 
very  valuable  piece  as  well,  and  it  should  be  treated  ac- 
cordingly. It  is  impossible  to  obtain  economy  and  effi- 
ciency of  operation  unless  this  fact  is  realized;  and  the  de- 
gree of  economy  and  efficiency  obtained  is  dependent  to 
a  very  large  extent,  larger  than  most  people  imagine,  on 
the  care  given  the  truck  and  the  manner  in  which  it  is 
^operated. 

Carelessly  maintained  and  carelessly  operated,  the 
motor  truck  will  depreciate  more  quickly  than  is  necessary, 
—that  is,  its  life  will  be  shorter  than  it  is  built  for  and 
shorter  than  the  operator  expects, —  and  so  the  purchase 
price  of  the  truck  will  be  actually  more  than  was  paid, 
because  what  is  actually  purchased  is  mileage  rather  than 
a  mechanical  device.  The  truck's  actual  operating  costs 
will  be  higher  because  of  the  number  of  unnecessary  re- 
pairs; the  whole  cost  of  transportation  will  be  higher  than 
is  necessary  because  careless  handling  produces  major  as 
well  as  minor  repairs  and  the  former  lay  the  truck  up  for 
days  at  a  time  when  hired  equipment  or  some  other  supple- 
mental form  of  transportation,  at  additional  cost,  must  be 
resorted  to;  and  direct  operating  costs  will  be  higher  be- 
cause carelessness  necessitates  the  use  of  more  gasoline, 
oil,  tires,  and  so  forth. 

Lack  of  proper  lubrication,  overloading,  overspeeding, 
and  lack  of  a  systematic  periodic  inspection  are  the  causes 
of  rapid  depreciation. 

Lubrication  of  the  truck  is  more  important  to  proper 
maintenance  than  any  other  one  thing.  The  truck  manu- 
facturer supplies  a  chart  showing  each  part  that  needs 
lubrication,  how  often,  and  the  type  of  lubricant  to  be  used. 

104 


MAINTENANCE 

If  these  instructions  are  followed,  and  it  is  easy  to  do  so, 
trouble  from  this  source  will  be  eliminated.  In  addition 
to  increased  wear  on  moving  parts  with  lack  of  lubrication, 
because  of  such  lack  a  truck  may  very  easily  become 
stalled  on  the  road  due  to  a  burnt-out  bearing  or  a  seized 
piston. 

Trucks  are  designed  to  carry  certain  stated  loads,  and 
if  this  load  is  exceeded,  a  strain  is  put  on  the  parts,  which 
of  course  shortens  the  life  of  the  truck,  even  if  actual  break- 
ages do  not  occur.  Particularly  is  this  true  with  respect 
to  tires. 

Trucks  are  also  designed  for  certain  maximum  speeds, 
and  in  order  to  insure  this,  the  engine  is  equipped  with  a 
" governor"  which  limits  the  speed.  If  this  speed  is  ex- 
ceeded, a  strain  is  put  upon  the  engine,  because  the  number 
of  revolutions  per  minute  is  increased  beyond  what  the 
engine  is  designed  and  built  for.  The  " governor"  cannot 
however  control  coasting  down  hill  at  high  speed;  and  if 
under  these  conditions  the  clutch  is  let  in,  the  engine  begins 
to  work  at  a  higher  speed  than  is  permissible.  And  even 
on  the  level  it  is  not  an  uncommon  practice  for  some  truck 
drivers  to  open  up  the  governor  and  "hit  it  up."  Not  only 
does  over-speeding  injure  the  engine,  but  all  other  moving 
parts  use  up  lubrication  faster  than  would  be  the  case 
under  a  proper  operating  speed  or  that  for  which  the  truck 
was  designed,  and  on  which  all  lubrication  instruction  is 
based.  Over-speeding  also  causes  more  wear  and  tear 
because  of  the  increased  jouncing,  which  may  also  result 
in  damage  to  the  load  as  well  as  to  the  road.  Over-speeding 
also  causes  more  wear  on  brakes  and  tires,  and  the  accident 
hazard  is  very  much  increased. 

The  correct  adjustment  of  the  carburetor  is  important 
enough  to  be  the  means  of  saving  many  gallons  of  gasoline, 
and  the  correct  position  of  the  spark  also  has  a  bearing  on 
full  consumption,  as  have  the  brakes,  which  should  be 
adjusted  so  that  they  do  not  drag. 

105 


MOTOR  TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

Over-speeding,  over-loading,  rapid  starts  and  stops, 
running  over  sharp  objects,  cartracks,  etc.,  all  shorten 
the  life  of  tires. 

In  most  instances  it  is  the  driver's  duty  to  care  for  the 
truck  in  such  matters  as  lubrication  and  minor  adjustments, 
as  well  as  to  operate  it.  From  all  of  this  it  will  be  seen 
that  insofar  as  truck  economy  is  concerned,  the  driver  is 
somewhat  in  the  key  position.  All  of  the  time  and  most  of 
the  money  that  have  been  spent  in  selecting  the  size,  make 
of  truck  and  equipment  best  fitted  for  the  particular  work 
to  be  done,  will  be  lost  if  a  competent  driver  is  not  put  be- 
hind the  wheel.  This  is  being  recognized  more  and  more, 
and  to  such  an  extent  that  many  concerns  have  worked 
out  bonus  systems  based  on  economies  resulting  from 
proper  care  and  proper  driving. 

In  using  a  bonus  to  increase  efficiency,  it  is  usually 
necessary  to  establish  a  standard,  and  then  to  pay  a  bonus 
to  every  driver  doing  better  than  the  established  standard. 
Thus,  for  instance,  it  may  be  established  that  in  the  par^ 
ticular  line  of  work  and  for  the  particular  sized  truck  con- 
sidered, a  certain  number  of  miles  per  gallon  of  gasoline 
should  in  any  event  be  expected.  It  could  be  arranged, 
then,  to  give  in  the  way  of  a  bonus,  half  of  the  cost  of 
gasoline  saved,  if  this  standard  is  beaten.  Or  a  bonus  on 
tires  could  be  arranged  in  much  the  same  way.  Experience 
would  show  that  tires  over  certain  routes  and  on  certain 
sized  trucks  would  last  on  the  average  a  certain  number 
of  miles,  and  any  driver  doing  better  than  this  average 
would  be  entitled  to  a  bonus.  Standing  time  and  repairs 
can  similarly  be  cut  down.  Bonus  systems  can  also  be 
worked  out  on  basis  of  the  amount  of  actual  work  per- 
formed; as,  for  instance,  the  number  of  tons  delivered,  or 
gallons,  or  whatever  the  unit  might  be. 

In  addition  to  beating  standards  and  particularly  in  the 
case  of  fleet  operators,  or  where  a  number  of  trucks  are 
being  operated  by  one  concern,  contests  can  be  arranged, 

106 


MAINTENANCE 

and  the  winner  awarded  a  prize.  Thus,  a  prize  could  be 
put  up  for  the  truck  operating  the  most  miles  on  a  gallon  of 
gasoline,  or  for  the  one  doing  the  most  work,  or  having  the 
best  appearance,  or  for  keeping  down  repairs,  etc.  The 
important  thing  in  contests  of  course  is  to  be  sure  to  have 
the  conditions  uniform. 

The  keeping  of  a  proper  cost  accounting  and  truck  per- 
forming record  is  very  helpful  in  promoting  truck  driving 
efficiency.  Such  records  compared  one  with  the  other, 
or  with  some  known  local  standard,  or  with  other  trucks  in 
a  similar  line,  will  invariably  show  whether  or  not  the  truck 
is  operating  efficiently,  and  steps  can  be  taken  to  adjust 
matters  accordingly. 

Bonus  systems,  if  properly  conducted  and  under  fair 
conditions,  not  only  effect  direct  economies,  but  they 
make  the  driver  concentrate  on  his  work,  and  remind  him 
that  he  has  something  which  he  himself  can  control  for 
better  or  for  worse.  In  other  words,  they  should  be  de- 
signed primarily  for  securing  the  interest  of  the  driver  in  his 
job  rather  than  as  a  direct  saving  for  the  owner.  Once 
this  is  accomplished,  bonus  systems  are  unnecessary. 

Above  all  things,  truck  drivers  should  be  selected  with 
great  care,  not  so  much  for  their  mechanical  ability,  as 
for  their  character,  and  they  should  be  given  a  thorough 
training  in  the  construction  and  operation  of  the  truck. 
The  driver  should  not  only  be  drilled  in  how  to  drive  the 
truck  to  the  best  advantage,  but  he  should  also  be  instructed 
as  to  how  the  mechanism  works,  and  the  reasons  for  having 
this  and  that  on  the  truck,  and  just  what  abuse  means. 

The  truck  driver  should  be  made  as  comfortable  as 
possible.  He  should  be  protected  in  winter,  and  should 
have  a  comfortable  seat,  with  electric  lights  if  there  is 
much  night  driving,  and  a  self-starter  if  there  are  many 
stops.  He  should  be  supported  by  having  his  truck 
properly  maintained  and  inspected. 

Most  truck  manufacturers  offer  to  inspect  their  trucks  at 

8  107 


MOTOR  TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

least  once  a  month,  either  free  or  for  a  nominal  fee.  Taking 
advantage  of  this  is  one  of  the  best  insurances  in  economical 
truck  operation;  that  is  if  it  is  followed  up  by  the  making 
of  the  necessary  repairs.  This  method  insures  a  happier 
driver,  hence  better  work  on  his  part;  a  safer  vehicle  and 
one  not  liable  to  frequent  repairs  and  long  overhauls. 
This  method  of  keeping  a  truck  and  driver  in  prime  con- 
dition is  so  logical  that  it  seems  a  wonder  that  some  oper- 
ators allow  a  truck  actually  to  break  down  before  it  is 
taken  off  the  road  for  repairs. 

The  care  and  driving  of  the  truck  is  an  important  item  in 
motor  truck  transportation,  but  its  importance  is  as  yet 
little  realized.  When  truck  operators  understand  that 
they  are  handling  an  expensive  piece  of  machinery,  then 
only  will  they  take  the  same  care  of  it  as  is  taken  of  loco- 
motives; and  then  only  will  they  see  the  economy  of  placing 
specially  trained  men  in  charge  of  the  truck's  operation. 
When  that  time  does  come,  however,  motor  truck  trans- 
portation will  be  on  a  higher  economical  plane  than  it 
is  today.  The  human  or  personal  element  always  counts, 
but  in  the  operation  of  motor  trucks  it  should  be  given  a 
much  higher  rating  than  that  now  accorded  to  it. 

Pick  good  men  to  be  truck  drivers.  Train  them  prop- 
erly; get  their  cooperation  by  taking  them  into  some  kind 
of  partnership;  give  them  good  trucks  to  drive,  comfortably 
arranged  for  the  driver;  and  have  the  trucks  properly  and 
systematically  inspected  and  the  inspection  recommenda- 
tions carried  out,  and  more  efficient  and  more  economical 
motor  truck  transportation  is  bound  to  result. 


108 


CHAPTER   XII 

TRAILERS  AND  SEMI-TRAILERS 

A  TRAILER  is  a  vehicle  with  four  wheels,  which  is  at- 
tached to  the  rear  of  a  truck,  and  is  pulled  along  by  the  \ 
truck.     A  semi-trailer  is  a  vehicle  with  two  wheels,  which  1 
is  attached  to  the  rear  of  a  truck  or  a  tractor,  and  is  pulled  ] 
along  by  it.     Neither  has  any  means  of  propulsion  con- 
tained in  itself.     They  trail  along  with  the  hauling  device. 

The  utility  of  trailers  and  of  semi-trailers  is  fast  becoming 
known,  with  the  result  that  their  use  has  increased  100  per 
cent,  in  the  last  year.  Their  advantages  are  many,  and 
when  and  where  they  can  be  used,  it  is  economical  motor 
truck  transportation  to  use  them. 

It  is  possible,  under  the  right  operating  conditions,  to 
cut  down  the  cost  of  highway  transport  by  using  trailers 
and  semi-trailers.  Anything  that  will  do  this  deserves 
serious  consideration. 

The  possibility  of  their  use  comes  about  because  of  the 
extra  power  and  extra  strength  built  into  the  truck  when  a 
truck  is  used  as  the  hauling  unit.  Trucks  are  seldom  used 
to  haul  semi-trailers.  It  is  with  the  trailer  that  they  usually 
furnish  the  hauling  power,  whereas  semi-trailers  are  usually 
used  in  combination  with  tractors;  a  tractor  being  a  device 
designed  to  pull  a  load  and  not  to  carry  one.  As  used  in 
highway  transport  work,  the  tractor  closely  resembles  a 
truck. 

A  first  class  truck  is  designed  and  built  to  operate  over 
bad  roads,  and  to  climb  steep  grades.  Or,  in  other  words, 
it  is  designed  to  meet  severe  road  conditions.  If,  there- 
fore, the  use  of  a  particular  truck  is  confined  to  good  roads, 
and  moderate  grades,  its  full  power  and  strength  are  not 
called  on  and  this  excess  power  is  known  as  "draw  bar 
pull,"  or  the  pull  that  is  left  in  the  truck  after  it  has  started 

109 


II 


II 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

and  moved  itself  plus  its  load.  Obviously,  it  takes  less 
power  to  start  and  move  a  load  over  hard  surfaced  roads, 
comparatively  level  than  over  soft  roads,  where  the  wheels 
sink  in,  and  up  grades.  Where  the  truck  is  operating  over 
level,  hard  roads,  it  is  good  business,  because  it  is  economy, 
to  use  the  truck's  excess  power  or  "draw  bar  pull"  in 
actually  transporting  an  additional  load  by  pulling  a 
trailer,  also  loaded,  if  there  is  sufficient  load  to  be  moved 
at  once,  going  in  the  same  direction,  greater  than  the 
capacity  of  the  truck  itself. 

The  principle  that  enables  a  motor  truck,  under  certain 
conditions,  to  pull  a  greater  load  than  it  can  carry,  is  the 
same  as  that  which  enables  a  man  to  pull  more  than  he  can 
carry,  or  a  horse,  or  a  locomotive,  under  certain  conditions. 
We  know  that  this  is  so  with  regard  to  the  man,  the  horse, 
and  the  locomotive,  not  because  of  being  convinced  by 
either  theory  or  figures,  but  because  it  is  such  a  familiar 
sight,  that  explanation  is  unnecessary.  And  so  it  is  bound 
to  be  with  the  motor  truck  and  trailer.  As  the  sight  be- 
comes more  common,  the  fact  will  have  to  be  accepted, 
even  though  it  is  not  understood  by  everyone,  and  trailers 
will  then  be  in  more  general  use. 

The  economy  in  trailers  lies  in  several  directions.  With 
their  use,  first  cost  in  equipment  is  cut  down,  because 
generally  speaking,  and  under  conditions  favorable  to  the 
use  of  trailers,  a  truck  can  pull  a  load  at  least  equal  to 
its  own  load,  so  that  a  five-ton  truck  can  pull  a  five-ton 
trailer.  As  a  five-ton  trailer  does  not  cost  anywhere  near  as 
much  as  a  five-ton  truck  (about  one-third)  there  is  this 
saving  in  equipment. 

Although  the  carrying  capacity  is  doubled,  the  operating 
expenses  are  not  doubled  by  any  means.  Driver's  wages, 
which  is  the  biggest  single  item  in  truck  operation,  re- 
mains the  same,  since  no  additional  help  is  necessary  when 
a  truck  is  used  with  a  trailer. 

The  wear  and  tear  on  a  trailer  is  very  small,  because  there 

112 


TRAILERS   AND   SEMI-TRAILERS 

are  no  moving  mechanical  devices  contained  within  it,  and 
hence,  of  course,  depreciation  is  very  low.  The  main  item 
of  wear  and  tear  is  on  tires,  and  even  these  last  longer  on  a 
trailer  because  there  is  not  the  tractive  force  expended  on 
the  tires  of  a  trailer  that  there  is  on  truck  tires. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  lubrication  and  insurance  items 
are  very  much  less,  as  is  also  the  interest  charge,  because 
of  the  very  much  lower  first  cost.  Next  to  the  driver's 
wages,  the  item  of  truck  interest  is  usually  the  largest  in  an 
average  day's  work.  If  the  daily  mileage  is  very  high, 
then  the  gasoline  cost  will  exceed  the  interest  cost. 

It  does,  however,  cost  a  little  more  to  operate  a  truck 
in  connection  with  a  trailer,  than  if  the  truck  were  operated 
alone.  It  will  probably  take  a  little  more  gasoline,  a  little 
more  lubrication,  and  there  will  be  a  little  more  wear  and 
tear.  There  are  no  exact  figures  along  these  lines,  but 
trailer  operation  will  probably  not  increase  the  cost  of 
operation  over  that  necessary  for  the  truck  itself,  more  than 
10  per  cent.  Some  operators  who  have  used  trailers  have 
made  the  statement  to  the  author  that  it  does  not  increase 
the  cost  of  truck  operation  at  all.  Of  course,  this  does 
not  seem  possible,  and  when  pinned  right  down,  these 
operators  have  not  been  keeping  actual  costs  of  truck  opera- 
tion without  trailers  and  truck  operation  with  trailers, 
so  as  to  obtain  true  comparative  costs. 

Where  trailers  can  be  used  to  advantage,  there  is  another 
saving,  and  that  is  in  the  cutting  down  of  loading  time. 
The  more  a  truck  can  be  kept  moving,  the  more  profitable 
it  is,  and  the  more  it  can  be  eliminated  as  a  mere  loading 
platform,  the  better.  Trailers  can  sometimes  be  used  to 
advantage  in  helping  to  keep  the  truck  rolling,  inasmuch  as 
they  can  be  loaded  while  the  truck  is  making  a  trip.  In 
other  words,  the  expensive  power  plant  is  not  being  tied 
up.  This  is  particularly  advantageous  in  short  hauls, 
where  perhaps  the  loading  time  exceeds  by  a  considerable 
period,  the  hauling  time;  whereas  in  long  hauls,  where  the 

113 


TRAILERS   AND   SEMI-TRAILERS 

loading  time  is  a  small  percentage  of  the  running  time,  the 
use  of  a  trailer  doubles  the  load  that  can  be  hauled. 

In  other  words,  particularly  on  a  long  haul,  the  greater 
the  load,  the  less  the  expense  per  hundredweight  or  per 
ton,  and  if  this  load  can  be  doubled  by  the  use  of  trailers, 
with  only  a  slight  increase  in  the  operating  expense,  and 
the  initial  investment,  it  is  certainly  good  business  to  use 
them.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  if  it  was  not  for  the  practic- 
ability of  trailers,  a  number  of  the  so-called  long  distance 
motor  transport  lines  could  not  live. 

The  use  of  trailers  should  also  decrease  the  wear  and 
tear  on  roads,  thereby  decreasing  cost  of  highway  main- 
tenance and  increasing  the  length  of  highway  life,  because 
every  truck  replaced  by  a  trailer,  takes  just  so  much  weight 
off  the  road.  The  weight  of  a  trailer  itself  is  very  much  less 
than  the  weight  of  a  truck,  and  there  is  not  as  much  trac- 
tive force  expended  on  the  road  when  using  a  truck  and  a 
trailer  as  there  is  when  using  two  trucks. 

Where  the  roads  are  particularly  level,  and  hard,  more 
than  one  trailer  can  be  used,  and  of  course  where  this  is 
possible,  the  ton-mile  costs  will  further  decrease. 

Trailers  have  as  yet  not  made  very  much  headway  in 
districts  where  there  are  congested  street  traffic  conditions, 
but  it  would  seem  that  the  use  of  trailers  might  tend  to 
relieve  traffic  congestion.  Certainly,  with  their  use, 
two  vehicles  will  occupy  less  space  than  two  vehicles  oper- 
ated independently,  and  they  will  operate  with  better 
co-ordination.  Trolley  cars  with  trailers  are  now  operating 
in  many  streets  where  it  was  formerly  thought  such  an 
operation  could  not  be  carried  on  successfully,  due  to 
congested  traffic  conditions.  There  is  no  reason  why 
motor  trucks  and  trailers  cannot  be  operated  under  such 
conditions  with  the  same  degree  of  facility. 

The  principle  of  the  semi  or  two  wheel  trailer  is  some- 
what different  from  that  of  the  out-and-out  four-wheel 
trailer.  The  hauling  device  in  this  instance  does  not  it- 

115 


TRAILERS   AND   SEMI-TRAILERS 

self  carry  a  load,  and  merely  acts  as  a  tractor,  so  that  there 
is  available  all  of  the  excess  power  over  and  above  T,liat 
necessary  to  move  the  tractor. 

A  tractor  for  highway  transportation  is  practically  a 
motor  truck  with  a  short  wheelbase,  and  it  may  be  stated 
that  as  a  general  proposition,  that  is  on  reasonably  level 
roads  with  reasonably  hard  surfaces,  the  truck  used  as 
a  tractor  can  haul  a  semi-trailer  loaded  to  three  times  the 
rated  capacity  of  the  truck. 

Where  semi-trailers  can  be  used,  therefore,  they  are  even 
more  economical  than  trailers,  because  where  a  trailer  is 
used,  the  truck  ordinarily  can  only  pull  a  load  equal  to  its 
rated  capacity;  but  of  course  the  truck  in  this  instance  also 
carries  a  load.  In  other  words,  with  trailer  operation  a 
truck  can  do  twice  as  much  work,  whereas  with  semi- 
trailer operation  it  can  do  three  times  as  much  work,  as  if 
the  truck  is  operated  independently. 

For  instance,  a  two-ton  truck  operated  without  a  trailing 
device  of  any  kind  can  haul  two  tons.  A  two-ton  truck 
operated  in  connection  with  a  four-wheel  trailer  will  haul 
four  tons, — two  tons  on  the  truck  itself,  and  two  tons  on 
the  trailer.  A  two-ton  truck  acting  as  a  tractor  and  hauling 
a  semi-trailer,  can  haul  six  tons,  none  of  which  would  be 
on  the  truck  itself. 

With  the  semi-trailer  arrangement,  as  has  been  stated 
before,  all  the  excess  power  in  the  truck  is  devoted  to  mov- 
ing the  semi-trailer.  Furthermore,  the  truck  acts  as  a 
support  for  the  front  end  of  the  semi-trailer  and  so  of  course 
takes  part  of  the  load  distribution.  The  space  back  of  the 
driver's  seat  must  thereby  be  utilized  in  connection  with 
the  supporting  arrangement,  which  must  be  devised  so 
that  the  semi-trailer  can  be  quickly  attached  and  detached, 
so  that  the  load  can  be  distributed  to  the  best  advantage, 
and  so  that  the  semi-trailer  and  tractor  will  be  permitted 
to  conform  to  all  road  unevenness  without  interfering  with 
the  stability  of  the  semi-trailer. 

117 


TRAILERS  AIsD   SEMI-TRAILERS 

The  economies  already  claimed  for  the  four  wheel  trailer 
also  hold  good  for  the  semi-trailer,  in  so  far  as  cost  of  equip- 
ment and  operating  expenses  are  concerned. 

There  is  undoubtedly  greater  economy  in  the  use  of  a 
semi-trailer  with  respect  to  economy  in  loading  and  un- 
loading; but  in  order  to  effect  this  economy,  the  hauling 
conditions  must  be  particularly  favorable  to  semi-trailer 
operation.  The  semi-trailer  can  be  loading  and  unloading 
while  the  tractor  is  hauling  some  other  semi-trailer.  While 
the  semi-trailer  is  being  loaded  and  unloaded,  the  front 
end  of  course  necessarily  has  to  be  supported  by  some  other 
means,  either  on  wooden  horses  or  some  other  device, 
fastened  to  the  semi-trailer,  which  can  be  arranged  to 
support  it  when  it  is  not  in  use  with  the  tractor. 

There  is  probably  greater  economy,  in  so  far  as  the  roads 
are  concerned,  by  the  use  of  semi-trailers  than  there  is  by 
using  trucks  independently  operated  or  in  connection  with 
four  wheel  trailers,  because  the  entire  load  is  distributed 
over  six  wheels,  and  there  need  not  be  such  a  great  propor- 
tion of  it  right  over  the  driving  units. 

So  far,  it  has  been  determined  that  comparatively  level 
roads  with  good  wearing  surfaces  are  essential  to  successful 
trailer  performance,  and  that  a  sufficient  amount  of  freight, 
going  in  the  same  general  direction,  is  necessary  for  trailer 
operation.  Semi-trailer  operation  requires  about  the  same 
road  conditions,  and  the  freight  must  be  in  such  quantity 
or  of  such  a  character  that  the  hauling  unit  can  be  kept 
busy  while  the  semi-trailer  is  being  loaded  or  unloaded. 
If  there  is  no  such  hauling  to  be  done,  the  unit  employed 
in  hauling  a  semi-trailer  is  for  the  time  being  a  dead  loss, 
whereas  with  a  truck  and  trailer  it  is  not  necessary  that 
there  be  sufficient  freight  to  keep  both  truck  and  trailer 
busy  whenever  the  truck  is  in  operation,  to  make  the  in- 
vestment worth  while.  The  trailer  is  on  hand  when  addi- 
tional freight  beyond  the  capacity  of  the  truck  has  to  be 
hauled.  Trailer  operation  tends  to  cut  down  truck  over- 

119 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

loading,  which  is  detrimental  to  the  truck,  as  brought  out 
in  the  chapter  on  Maintenance.  If  there  is  a  trailer  on 
hand  it  will  be  used  rather  than  to  try  to  put  the  excessive 
load  on  the  truck  itself. 

If  trailer  operation  is  contemplated,  the  buyer  should 
be  sure  of  his  equipment.  There  is  undoubtedly  an  added 
strain  placed  on  the  truck,  and  one  strong  enough  in  every 
respect  should  be  selected.  There  has  been  enough  trailer 
experience  now  to  show  what  trucks  are  standing  up  in 
this  service.  Inquiry  on  the  part  of  the  buyer  will  develop 
what  make  or  makes  to  use.  It  is  also  important  to  select 
the  right  kind  of  an  attaching  device,  one  that  can  be  de- 
pended upon  to  hold  the  trailer  safely  in  place,  and  at  the 
same  time  will  be  easily  manipulated. 

It  is  possible  to  estimate  quite  closely  whether  or  not  a 
given  truck  under  given  road  conditions  can  pull  a  trailer 
of  a  given  capacity,  or  what  capacity  trailer  it  can  pull. 
In  the  first  place,  it  is  necessary  to  know  the  number  of 
cylinders,  their  bore  and  stroke,  the  diameter  of  the  rear 
wheels,  and  the  gear  reduction;  with  those  factors  known 
it  is  possible  to  figure  the  tractive  power.  The  gear  re- 
duction can  be  taken  at  any  speed,  depending  on  the  speed 
at  which  the  draw  bar  pull  is  required.  Ordinarily  it  is 
taken  for  high  speed.  Having  found  the  truck's  tractive 
force,  it  then  becomes  necessary  to  ascertain  the  excess 
available  for  trailer  use.  The  difference  between  the 
truck's  tractive  force  and  the  road  resistance  gives  the 
draw  bar  pull  available  for  trailers. 

In  order  to  determine  the  road  resistance,  the  weight  of 
the  truck  and  of  its  load,  the  friction  coefficient,  and  the 
per  cent,  of  the  ruling  grade  must  be  known.  Having 
found  the  excess  pull  available,  then  by  using  the  same 
friction  coefficient  and  per  cent,  of  grade,  as  were  used  in 
connection  with  the  truck  (they  both  of  course  traverse  the 
same  road)  the  trailer  load  that  can  be  hauled  can  then  be 
ascertained. 

120 


TRAILERS   AND   SEMI-TRAILERS 

Formulae  have  been  developed  for  use  in  obtaining  this 
information,  and  there  are  tables  available  showing  the 
friction  coefficient  for  various  types  of  road,  so  that  it  is 
not  very  difficult  for  the  prospective  trailer  user  to  de- 
termine for  himself  at  least  approximately  whether  or  not 
it  is  mechanically  possible  to  use  trailers  or  semi-trailers 
under  the  conditions  presented  in  his  hauling  problem. 

As  trailers  have  been  in  use  now  for  some  time,  however, 
under  varying  conditions  and  with  many  makes  of  trucks, 
it  is  perhaps  better  to  have  the  truck  manufacturer  or  the 
trailer  manufacturer  give  concrete  instances  where  trailers 
or  semi-trailers  are  being  used  under  conditions  similar  to 
those  under  consideration. 

The  use  of  trailers  and  semi-trailers  in  connection  with 
motor  truck  transportation  deserves  serious  consideration, 
and  in  studying  any  hauling  problem,  the  practicability 
of  their  use  should  be  considered,  with  the  possibility  of 
reducing  actual  operating  costs,  investment  costs,  standing 
time  of  the  truck,  street  congestion,  and  wear  and  tear  on 
roads. 


121 


CHAPTER   XIII 
PNEUMATIC  TIRES 

TIRES  are  used  to  protect  the  mechanism,  the  load  and 
the  road  and  to  secure  traction.  Therefore  the  greater 
the  cushioning  powers  of  a  tire,  combined  with  durability 
and  practicability,  the  more  serviceable  a  motor  truck 
can  be  made  to  become,  because  it  can  then  make  greater 
speed,  thereby  covering  more  miles  per  day  without  addi- 
tional injury  to  mechanism  and  load,  provided  the  mechan- 
ism effected  by  additional  speed  is  designed  to  take  care  of 
it.  The  truck  will  also  be  enabled  to  extend  its  field  by 


Pneumatic  tires  enable  the  mail  trucks  to  reach  almost  any  point. 

122 


PNEUMATIC   TIRES 

being  able  to  travel  over  roads  that  may  be  impassable  with 
solid  tired  equipment. 

Although  it  is  claimed  by  some,  particularly  some  tire 
manufacturers,  that  trucks  mounted  on  pneumatic  tires 
can  be  operated  more  cheaply  than  those  mounted  on  solid 
tires,  there  has  hardly  been  enough  experience  as  yet  to 
determine  whether  this  is  actually  so. 

Turning  back  to  Chapter  II  for  a  moment,  we  will  recall 
that  truck  operating  costs  are  divided  into  two  main  ele- 
ments— fixed  charges  and  variable  charges.  Tire  equip- 
ment does  not  affect  fixed  charges  except  in  the  item  of 
interest  on  investment.  As  pneumatic  tired  equipment 
costs  more  than  solid  tired  equipment,  this  item  is  bound 
to  be  greater  in  its  case.  The  cost  of  pneumatic  tires  them- 
selves, together  with  the  spare  tires  necessary  to  be  carried 
if  this  kind  of  equipment  is  used,  is  three  to  five  times  more 
than  the  cost  of  a  set  of  solid  tires  for  the  same  truck. 
Other  extra  equipment  is  necessary,  such  as  a  mechanically 
operated  tire  pump,  heavy  jacks,  etc.  It  also  may  be 
necessary  to  make  changes  in  the  chassis,  adding  to  its 
cost,  such  as  larger  engines,  greater  braking  capacity,  a  dif- 
ferent gear  ratio,  a  modified  governor,  cooling  and  lubricat- 
ing system  changes  and  longer  springs,  all  perhaps  necessary 
because  of  the  greater  speed  permitted  by  pneumatic  tires. 

The  items  under  variable  charges  are  depreciation, 
gasoline  and  oil  consumption,  tires  and  maintenance.  As 
has  been  said,  claims  have  been  made  that  the  use  of  pneu- 
matic tires  effects  a  saving  in  all  of  these  items.  Although 
this  may  be  so,  there  are  as  yet  no  figures  covering  opera- 
tions widely  applied  over  a  long  enough  period,  positively 
to  substantiate  these  claims. 

It  is  claimed  that  trucks  so  equipped  will  not  depreciate 
as  fast  as  solid  tired  equipment  because  the  increased 
cushioning  effect  cuts  down  vibration  and  road  shocks. 
On  the  other  hand,  because  of  the  increased  speed  with 
which  pneumatic  tired  equipment  is  generally  operated, 

9  123 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

there  is  probably  greater  wear  and  tear  on  the  engine,  on 
the  lubricating  and  cooling  systems,  on  the  brakes,  and 
on  other  moving  parts.  There  is  probably  no  saving  in 
gasoline  and  oil  in  short  hauls,  whereas  on  long  hauls  there 
probably  is,  to  some  extent.  Pneumatic  tires  probably 


Pneumatic-tired  tractors  permit  the  hauling  of  long  heavy  articles  over 
otherwise  impassable  roads.  This  tractor  and  semi-trailer  is  hauling  pipe 
in  the  Texas  oil  fields. 

wear  out  faster  than  solid  tires  and  certainly  cost  more  to 
keep  in  shape  while  they  do  last.  Because  of  the  increased 
speed  there  is  probably  no  saving  in  general  truck  main- 
tenance. Although  there  may  be  no  saving  effected  by 
using  pneumatics  against  solids  in  direct  operating  cost, 
mile  for  mile,  pneumatic  tires  undoubtedly  permit  the  use 
of  trucks  in  some  operations  where  solid  tired  trucks  could 
not  be  used  to  advantage.  For  instance,  over  roads  so  soft 
that  a  solid  tired  truck  could  not  obtain  sufficient  traction. 
Then,  too,  the  pneumatic  tire  permits  a  greater  speed,  so 

124 


PNEUMATIC   TIRES 

that  a  truck  so  equipped  can  reach  out  further  in  a  given 
time. 

When  traffic  and  road  conditions  warrant,  more  trips 
per  day  can  be  made  with  pneumatics  than  with  solids 
and  so  more  ton-miles  can  be  carried  and  consequently  the 
cost  per  ton-mile  will  be  lower.  But  this  advantage  should 
be  considered  along  with  the  disadvantage  that  a  truck  so 
equipped,  cannot  be  overloaded  with  the  same  degree  of 
safety  that  a  solid  tired  truck  can.  Careful  as  we  may  be,- 
motor  trucks  will  at  times  be  overloaded. 

There  is  no  "hard  and  fast"  rule  as  yet  developed  as  to 
when  pneumatic  tires  can  be  used  to  advantage.  The 
governing  factors  should  be  applied  to  the  particular  case 
in  hand  and  then  the  equipment  determined.  Some  of 
these  factors  are  as  follows: 

Distance  of  haul. 

Number  of  trips  per  day. 

Speed  of  delivery. 

Regularity  of  delivery. 

Traffic  congestion. 

Condition  of  roads. 

Tendency  to  overload. 

Character  of  load. 

Tire  service  stations. 

Cost  of  operation. 

Cost  of  maintenance. 

Cost  of  substitute  equipment. 

Availability  of  substitute  equipment. 

Another  thing  to  be  considered  is  that  pneumatic  tires, 
because  of  their  great  size,  raise  the  truck  body  higher  off 
the  ground,  thereby  making  it,  in  some  instances,  more 
difficult  to  load.  The  turning  radius  is  also  somewhat 
increased. 

There  is,  unquestionably,  a  field  (and  a  very  large  one) 
for  the  pneumatic  tired  truck.  They  certainly  can  be 

125 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

expected  to  increase  the  radius  of  truck  operations,  and 
they  are  to  be  recommended  for  hauling  over  bad  roads  or 
pavements,  for  off-the-road  hauling  (as  in  farms,  orchards, 


A  typical  long  distance  truck.     Note  the  pneumatic  tire  equipment  and  pro- 
tection for  driver.     There  is  also  an  overhead  berth  for  the  driver. 

oil  fields,  lumber  camps,  etc.),  for  hauling  fragile  or  perish- 
able loads  and  for  long  distance  hauling. 

We  have  attempted  to  show  throughout  this  book  that 
the  efficiency  of  a  truck  in  performing  its  functions  depends 
upon  the  amount  of  time  and  the  amount  of  money  that 
it  saves.  Oftentim.es,  truck  operation  may  cost  more  than 
some  other  means  of  transport  between  given  points,  yet 
the  saving  in  time  alone  by  employing  such  operation  may 
several  times  offset  the  increased  cost  of  the  operation 
itself;  and  so  likewise  the  high  initial  cost  of  pneumatic 
tires  may  be  offset  by  the  increased  radius  of  the  truck, 
the  greater  number  of  trips  per  day,  the  faster  transporta- 
tion required  by  some  commodities,  etc.,  and  there  is  no 
denying  that  pneumatic  tires  actually  enable  trucks  to 

126 


PNEUMATIC   TIRES 

operate  to  advantage  over  roads  and  under  conditions 
where,  before  their  use,  truck  operation  was  prohibited. 

There  is  no  advantage  in  using  pneumatics  in  short  haul 
work  over  city  streets  in  congested  traffic. 

Pneumatics  probably  have  a  great  economic  advantage 
in  that  highways  will  stand  up  longer  with  their  use,  and 
this  is  an  advantage  that  will  not  be  overlooked. 

Future  developments  in  pneumatic  tire  construction 
and  maintenance,  and  in  chassis  construction,  will  prob- 
ably improve  their  availability  to  a  point  where  they  can 
be  used  to  greater  and  greater  advantage. 

The  potential  advantages  that  exist  for  motor  truck 
transportation  in  connection  with  the  development  of  the 
pneumatic  tire  are  so  great  that  such  developments  should 
be  encouraged  in  every  possible  way.  They  should  not  be 
limited  to  the  construction  of  tires  alone,  but  development 
should  also  be  prosecuted  just  as  vigorously  in  pneumatic 
truck  tire  maintenance  and  service  facilities,  and  in  adapt- 
ing the  chassis  and  body  to  utilize  the  advantages  of 
pneumatics. 

At  present,  at  any  rate,  the  truck  capacity  to  which 
pneumatics  can  be  advantageously  applied  is  evidently 
limited  to  capacities  up  to  and  including  three  tons  and 
one-half. 

What  has  here  been  said  applies  to  trucks  only,  and  not 
to  business  cars  or  power  wagons,  as  these  latter  are  merely 
passenger  car  chasses  with  freight  bodies,  and  their  capacity 
does  not  exceed  the  carrying  capacity  of  passenger  cars. 


127 


CHAPTER   XIV 
THE  MOTOR  TRUCK  AND  THE  FARMER 

ONE  of  the  greatest  beneficiaries  of  the  motor  truck  is  the 
farmer. 

Perhaps  the  farmer's  greatest  problem,  at  the  present 
time  at  any  rate,  is  to  obtain  a  greater  price  for  his  products. 
There  is  too  great  a  difference  between  the  farmer's  selling 
price  and  the  price  which  the  consumer  has  to  pay.  There 
is  too  much  handling,  too  much  transportation,  and  there 
are  too  many  middlemen.  If  the  farmer  can  distribute 
direct  to  the  consumer,  he  can  obtain  more  and  the  con- 
sumer will  pay  less.  The  question  therefore  becomes  a 
matter  of  distribution  and  the  motor  truck,  because  of  its 
ability  to  transport  quickly  and  economically  direct  from 
the  fields  and  the  orchards  to  the  consumer's  door,  is 
now  and  is  destined  to  become  an  increasingly  important 
factor  in  the  transportation  of  food-stuffs. 

Good  roads  (which  are  coming  in  ever  increasing  length, 
there  being  available  for  this  purpose  this  year  over  half  a 
billion  dollars) ;  pneumatic  tires,  and  trucks  designed  to  get 
the  most  out  of  them  in  speed  and  traction;  are  being  used 
and  developed  more  and  more;  trailers  and  semi-trailers 
which  increase  tremendously  the  work  one  truck  can  do; 
special  bodies  and  loading  and  unloading  devices  which 
keep  the  truck  moving  and  save  labor;  cooperative  move- 
ments in  the  farming  and  consuming  districts;  and  a  more 
sympathetic  and  a  more  efficient  use  and  development 
(which  are  on  their  way)  of  the  various  national,  state, 
county  and  municipal  agencies,  public  and  private;  are 
some  of  the  factors  that  are  going  to  promote  the  more 
economical  collection  of,  transportation  of,  and  marketing 
of,  all  kinds  of  food-stuffs. 

It  will  be  noted  then,  that  economical  distribution  = 

128 


c3    bC 

ll 


£     03 

_§     * 
"5     ° 


GO      O 


>  -S 

ITS 


TS     <D 

II 


I IJ 


o3   ^     b/O 

SI! 

000 


•1  §^ 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

economical  collection  +  economical  transportation  -+-  eco- 
nomical marketing,  and  that  economical  transportation  is 
the  connecting  link.  It  is  being  determined  that  the  motor 
truck  is  in  many  instances  the  most  economical  connecting 
link  and  in  many  others,  the  only  one. 

The  motor  truck  is  increasing  the  farmer's  profits,  saving 
him  money,  increasing  his  markets,  increasing  his  produc- 
tion, helping  to  solve  his  labor  problem,  increasing  the 
value  of  his  property,  bringing  him  better  roads  and  making 
life  for  himself  and  his  family  more  pleasant. 

Mr.  Hoover  said  (and  do  we  need  to  quote  any  greater 
authority  on  the  distribution  of  food?)  : 

"  Fifty  per  cent,  of  our  perishable  foodstuffs  never  reach 
the  consumer  because  the  farms  on  which  they  are  raised 
are  too  remote  from  the  market  at  which  they  are  sold. 

"  Forty  to  sixty  per  cent,  of  our  potato  crop  is  lost  each 
year  by  rotting  in  the  ground  owing  to  poor  transportation 
means,  or  spoiling  on  the  way  to  market  because  of  in- 
adequate transportation  over  long  distances. 

"By  motor  trucks  the  farmer  will  be  able  to  reach  better 
markets  farther  away  than  now  by  horse  and  wagon.  He 
will  be  able  to  spend  more  time  actually  producing  on  his 
farm  and  be  able  to  sell  food  more  cheaply  by  eliminating 
the  present  tremendous  waste.  By  use  of  the  motor  truck 
the  farmer  will  be  able  to  produce  more  and  sell  at  less 
cost." 

The  Bureau  of  Crop  Estimates  of  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture  reports  that  hauling  in  wagons 
from  farms  to  shipping  points  in  1918  averaged  about 
thirty  cents  per  ton  mile  for  wheat,  thirty-three  cents  for 
corn,  and  forty-eight  cents  for  cotton.  For  hauling  in 
motor  truck,  corresponding  averages  were  fifteen  cents, 
fifteen  cents  and  eighteen  cents — half  the  cost  or  less  than 
half. 

Not  only  does  this  reliable  document  report  much  lower 
ton-mile  costs  with  the  use  of  motor  trucks  but  it  also  re- 

130 


PI?, 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

ports  that  the  motor  truck  haul  from  the  farms  to  the  ship- 
ping points  averaged  11.3  miles,  while  wagon  haul  averaged 
only  9  miles.  The  motor  truck,  however,  made  on  an 
average  of  3.4  round  trips  per  day  over  its  longer  route  of 
11.3  miles,  while  wagons  made  only  1.2  round  trips  per  day 
over  the  9  mile  distance. 

These  authentic  figures  are  a  clear  indication  of  the 
utility  and  value  of  motorizing  the  farm  industry.  The 
characteristic  foresight  of  the  American  farmer  will  bring 
this  about  when  he  realizes  (as  he  is  doing  more  and  more) 
that  one  truck  on  his  farm  will  release  several  horses,  that 
one  horse  requires  five  acres  of  tillable  land  to  support  it,— 
land  which  should  be  raising  valuable  foodstuffs  required 
for  human  consumption,  and  that  by  the  use  of  motor 
trucks  he  can  haul  to  market  while  keeping  his  horses  work- 
ing in  the  fields;  and  that  the  motor  truck  will  bring  land, 
formerly  too  far  from  market  for  profitable  farming,  into 
good  use. 

As  purely  a  means  of  transportation,  motor  trucks  can 
be  used  in  four  ways  to  connect  the  farmer  with  his  market : 

1.  By  motor  trucks  owned  and  operated  exclusively  by 

the  farmer  himself. 

2.  By  co-operatively  owned  trucks  where  the  individual 

farm  in  the  community  does  not  have  a  sufficient 
amount  of  produce  to  support  a  truck. 

3.  By  the  establishment  and  use  of  regularly  operated 

truck  lines  carrying  food  products  at   a  regular 
scale  of  prices. 

4.  By  the  rural  post  trucks  of  the  Postoffice  Department. 

All  four  ways  are  being  successfully  used.  It  is  estimated 
that  there  are  100,000  trucks  owned  by  farmers.  There 
are  several  cooperatively  operated  farmer  truck  lines  now 
in  existence.  The  privately  controlled  Rural  Motor  Ex- 
press is  now  a  familiar  sight  in  country  districts,  and  the 

132 


THE  MOTOR  TRUCK  AND  THE  FARMER 

Rural  Post  Trucks  of  the  Post-office  Department  have 
carried  on  some  noteworthy  operations  along  this  line. 

In  many  instances,  these  Rural  Express  operations  have 
been  so  successful  that  they  have  displaced  short  line  rail- 
roads in  the  rural  districts.  In  connection  with  this  field 


Patronizing  the  rural  motor  express.  The  availability  of  the  motor  truck 
is  responsible  for  the  successful  inauguration  of  thousands  of  transporta- 
tion lines  in  the  country  districts  to  the  inestimable  benefit  of  the  farmer. 

of  operations  no  less  an  authority  than  Mr.  C.  A.  Morse, 
a  high  railroad  official,  formerly  of  the  Railroad  Administra- 
tion, has  publicly  stated  that: 

"  Considered  as  a  unit,  practically  none  of  the  small 
branch  railway  lines  feeding  trunk  lines  pay  expenses.  The 
traffic  gathered  by  them  is  turned  over  to  the  main  line 
with  a  deficit  attached,  which  has  to  be  overcome  during 
main  line  movement  before  any  profit  is  made.  It  would 
be  a  decided  advantage  if  this  traffic  could  be  delivered  to 
the  trunk  line  by  means  of  motor  truck." 

133 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

The  probable  reason  for  this  opinion  is  that  the  average 
length  of  the  nearly  seven  hundred  such  railroads  in  the 
country  is  only  about  twenty  five  miles.  The  average 
haul  is  therefore  only  12J^  miles.  This  is  so  short  that  the 
motor  truck  can  perform  it  more  economically  and  at  the 
same  time  give  more  frequent  service.  In  any  event,  the 
farmer  has  to  truck  to  the  railroad  car  or  the  railroad  plat- 
form. Inasmuch  as  the  haul  to  the  main  line  point  of 
shipment  is  not  very  much  further,  it  is  better  to  continue 
the  haul  to  that  point  thereby  gaining  more  frequent  service. 
Of  course,  because  of  the  length  of  haul,  this  is  impractical 
with  horse  drawn  equipment,  but  it  is  entirely  practicable 
with  motor  trucks.  The  motor  truck  can  in  many  in- 
stances make  the  distance  between  the  farm  and  main 
line  shipping  point  in  the  same  or  in  even  better  time  than 
can  the  horse  drawn  vehicle  make  the  distance  from  farm 
to  branch  railroad  shipping  point.  In  other  words,  the 
motor  truck  will  be  the  feeder  to  railroads  in  rural  districts. 

Taking  the  official  government  figures  already  quoted  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  average  daily  distance  traveled  in  the 
rural  districts  of  the  United  States  with  horse-drawn  wagons 
is  about  ten  miles,  whereas  that  with  motor  trucks  is  nearly 
forty  miles,  or  nearly  four  times  as  great.  This  means  that 
in  such  districts  the  motor  truck  can  cover  four  times  the 
distance  a  horse  wagon  can  cover  in  the  same  time. 

The  farmer  therefore  might  better  take  his  motor  truck 
and  proceed  to  the  main  line,  rather  than  use  his  horse  to 
convey  the  products  of  his  farm  to  the  branch  line.  Re- 
member, many  farm  products  are  perishable,  or  at  any 
rate  command  a  higher  price  when  delivered  fresh  to  the 
consumer.  The  farmer,  too,  in  going  to  the  main  line 
shipping  town  is  apt  to  find  a  market  right  there  for  part 
of  his  load;  and  moreover  the  greater  opportunity  for  social 
intercourse  that  these  visits  to  the  larger  towns  affords  is 
certainly  apt  to  keep  the  farmer  in  a  more  contented  frame 
of  mind. 

134 


THE  MOTOR  TRUCK  AND  THE  FARMER 

The  production  and  distribution  of  food  stuffs  is  such  a 
great  national  problem,  that  it  has  had  the  attention  of 
governmental  and  state  agencies;  and  their  investigations 
show  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  motor  trucks  in 
such  service.  The  results  of  these  investigations  can  be 
obtained  from  the  United  States  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, from  the  United  States  Post-office  Department,  and 
from  the  various  state  departments  of  farms  and  markets. 
These  reports  and  bulletins  give  much  valuable  informa- 
tion on  how  to  organize  rural  motor  express  lines  as  well  as 
farmers'  cooperative  motor  truck  lines,  what  factors  to 
take  into  consideration,  what  kind  of  equipment  to  use, 
how  to  make  rates,  what  kind  of  shipping  papers  to  use,  etc. 
See  especially  Bulletin  No.  770  of  the  Bureau  of  Markets, 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  date  May  5th, 
1919,  entitled  "  Motor  Transportation  for  Rural  Districts." 
Also,  report  with  exhibits  of  the  Fourth  Assistant  Post- 
master General  to  the  Postmaster  General  in  December, 
1919,  showing  results  of  operations  of  the  motor  vehicle 
truck  routes  of  the  post-office  department.  Also,  Bulletin 
No.  931  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  dated 
February  25,  1921. 

These  documents  are  noteworthy  in  that  the  first 
one  describes  in  complete  detail  how  to  organize  a  rural 
motor  truck  route  and  the  second  gives  actual  results  of 
such  operations — not  only  actual  costs  of  operations  but 
also  character  and  amount  of  commodities  carried,  as  well 
as  the  savings  made  to  the  consumer. 

No  one  should  undertake  the  operation  of  motor  ex- 
press lines  of  any  kind,  either  rural,  inter-city,  or  urban, 
without  having  made  a  survey  of  the  situation;  and  the 
ultimate  decision  should  not  be  made  until  all  the  facts  are 
in  hand.  This  procedure  has  been  explained  in  Chapter 
VIII,  entitled  "The  Value  of  Highway  Transport  Surveys," 
but  some  of  the  points  brought  out  there  are  important 
enough  to  be  repeated. 

135 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

Such  a  survey  should  take  into  account  road  and  bridge 
conditions  for  every  season  of  the  year,  the  amount  and 
character  of  freight  that  might  be  expected  from  the  route 
in  question,  possibilities  of  return  loads,  length  of  haul, 
necessary  frequency  of  operation  and  demand  for  the 
route  in  question.  An  analysis  of  this  information  will 
show  in  the  first  place  whether  or  not  a  truck  line  is  feasible ; 
it  will  also  show  the  number  of  trucks,  their  capacity  and 
the  type  of  body  and  kind  of  tires  necessary  to  economically 
perform  the  hauling  operation.  Estimated  costs  of  opera- 
tion of  the  equipment  necessary  will  then  determine  the 
rate  which  will  have  to  be  charged  to  cover  expenses  and 
a  legitimate  profit.  The  question  then  is — will  the  farmers 
pay  this  rate? — and  the  answer  to  this  will  depend  on  what 
he  has  to  pay  at  the  present  time  and  whether  or  not  he 
will  receive  superior  service. 

And  so  also  should  the  transportation  or  delivery  problem 
of  the  individual  producer  be  carefully  investigated  before 
the  kind  of  transportation  to  use  is  determined  on.  This 
idea  has  been  expressed  several  times  in  this  book  and  can 
be  repeated  again  to  advantage  right  here. 

A  farm  is  a  producer,  just  as  an  industrial  plant  is  a 
producer.  The  farmer  has  his  shipping  problems  j  ust  as  the 
manufacturer  has,  and  the  farmer  should  analyze  his  ship- 
ping and  transportation  problem  just  as  the  manufacturer 
does.  Motor  trucks  are  used  by  the  manufacturer  only 
because  they  increase  the  quantity  of  his  production,  de- 
crease his  production  costs,  or  increase  his  selling  price, 
through  faster  deliveries,  etc.  It  is  exactly  so  with  the 
farmer;  and  as  the  farmer's  products  vary  (the  products  of 
a  farm  are  generally  more  diversified  than  those  of  any 
other  industry)  and  also  as  his  location,  roads,  lay-out 
of  farm,  and  existing  transportation  varies,  so  does  each 
individual  farmer's  transportation  problem  vary. 

The  farmer  should  attack  his  transportation  problem 
with  the  single  aim  of  using  the  most  economical  and  most 

136 


THE  MOTOR  TRUCK  AND  THE  FARMER 


Drug  store  supplies  are  a  necessity  and  the  motor  truck  solves 
this  problem  in  the  rural  districts. 


The  interior  arrangement  of  the  truck  is  interesting. 

137 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

efficient  method,  everything  considered.  He  knows  his 
present  method  but  does  he  know  whether  or  not  it  can  be 
improved  on?  He  may  have  studied  it  in  connection  with 
all  existing  means  up  to  the  advent  of  the  most  recent  de- 
velopment and  application  of  the  motor  truck,  but  has  he 
taken  this  latest  means  of  transportation  and  all  of  its 
features  and  applications  under  consideration?  Does 
he  know  that  pneumatic  tires  not  only  enable  him  to  travel 
at  any  time  of  the  year  over  roads  hitherto  in  most  seasons 
almost  impassable,  but  also  permit  him  to  move  faster 
than  was  possible  with  horses  or  with  solid  tired  trucks? 
Does  he  realize  that  with  the  use  of  such  equipment  he 
may  be  able  to  do  away  with  at  least  some  of  his  horses; 
that  it  will  give  himself,  or  his  help,  more  time  on  his  farm 
actually  producing;  that  it  may  enable  him  to  get  along 
with  less  help;  that  he  can  now  get  his  products  to  market 
or  to  shipping  point,  when  before  he  was  held  up  entirely, 
or  arrived  too  late  to  get  the  best  prices?  Does  he  know 
that  he  can  reach  markets  which  he  could  not  reach  before 
and  so  be  more  certain  to  dispose  of  all  of  his  production 
probably  at  a  better  price?  Does  he  realize  that  this 
means  more  contentment  because  of  the  greater  social 
contact  afforded  himself  and  his  family? 

Does  he  know  that  motor  truck  bodies  have  been  especi- 
ally designed  for  him,  even  arranged  so  that  one  body  can 
readily  be  converted  into  an  entirely  different  one  and  then 
again  into  a  different  one  still,  so  that  on  one  trip  he  can 
carry  live  stock,  on  another,  grain,  and  perhaps  on  the 
next  all  kinds  of  market  produce;  and  yet  another  time, 
milk?  Does  he  realize  that  with  the  motor  truck  he  can 
go  right  into  his  fields,  his  orchards,  his  gravel  pit,  and  his 
wood  lot,  and  haul  larger  loads  directly  there  and  thence 
over  the  road? 

Does  he  realize  that  with  trailers  and  semi-trailers  he  can 
double  and  treble  the  increased  amount  of  work  one  motor 
truck  will  do?  And  that  with  the  power  available  on  the 

138 


10 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

motor  truck  he  can  do  all  sorts  of  things  around  the  farm 
he  formerly  could  not  do  and  would  have  to  pay  some  one 
to  do  for  him? 

Does  the  farmer  realize  that  the  motor  truck  can  be  a 
profitable  piece  of  machinery  on  the  farm  as  well  as  on  the 
road? 

Unless  the  farmer  has  considered  all  of  these  points  and 
others  not  mentioned,  which  will  occur  to  him  when  he 
really  begins  to  think  this  thing  through,  he  cannot  say 
whether  or  not  he  is  using  the  most  economical  transporta- 
tion methods  on  and  off  of  his  farm. 

And  so  it  cannot  be  stated  until  all  the  conditions  are 
known  whether  or  not  a  farmer  can  use  a  motor  truck  to 
advantage;  and  if  he  can,  what  kind  of  equipment  he  should 
use;  that  is — what  capacity  truck,  what  kind  of  a  body, 
what  loading  devices,  whether  the  truck  should  be  equipped 
with  solid  or  pneumatic  tires,  etc. 

What  has  already  been  said  in  the  previous  chapters 
about  costs,  laws  of  transportation,  surveys,  bodies,  loading 
and  unloading  devices,  maintenance,  trailers  and  semi- 
trailers, pneumatic  tires,  roads,  etc.,  applies  just  as  em- 
phatically to  the  motor  truck  applied  to  the  farm  as  it 
does  to  its  application  in  any  other  transportation,  de- 
livery or  hauling  or  production  problem. 

We  know  that  in  many  instance  horses  and  railways  are 
the  things  to  stick  to.  It  cannot  be  said  that  in  every  in- 
stance or  on  every  farm  the  motor  truck  is  the  best  method 
of  transportation  to  use;  but  it  can  be  contended  that  the 
farmer  owes  it  to  himself  to  make  a  real  investigation  be- 
fore he  rests  satisfied  with  the  way  he  is  handling  the 
situation. 


140 


CHAPTER  XV 
GOOD  ROADS 

THE  road  is  to  the  motor  truck  what  the  track  is  to  the 
railroad  train.  Without  a  track  of  adequate  strength 
and  dimensions  it  would  be  impossible  for  our  railroads 
to  operate  with  the  present  degree  of  efficiency.  As  the 
weight,  size  and  speed  of  cars,  trains,  and  locomotives  has 
increased,  so  also  has  the  weight,  size  and  strength  of 
the  tracks  been  increased  and  maintained  with  more  care. 
Without  a  sufficient  number  of  adequate  tracks,  the  rail- 
roads of  this  country  could  not  begin  to  serve  the  im- 
portant points.  No  matter  how  many  railroad  lines  we^ 
have,  they  will  not  perform  transportation  service  in  its  j 
entirety.  We  must  still  look  to  the  highway.  Former 
Secretary  of  Commerce  Redfield  has  said:  "You  might 
build  up  the  railroads  until  they  are  ten  tracks  wide,  and 
fill  the  rivers  with  steamers,  and  still  the  farmer  could  not 
be  served. " 

It  is  well  to  recall  that  our  first  railroad  tracks  consisted 
simply  of  wooden  beams  surfaced  with  a  strap  of  iron. 
Although  the  first  railroad  in  this  country,  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio,  began  construction  in  1828,  the  first  T-rail  made 
of  steel  did  not  make  its  appearance  until  1863.  Such 
rails  were  first  imported  from  England.  They  were  not 
manufactured  in  the  United  States  until  1865.  The  first 
T-rails  were  made  of  iron,  were  but  sixteen  feet  long,  and 
weighed  but  thirty-six  pounds  to  the  yard.  Rails  in  this 
country  now  are  as  long  as  60  feet  and  weigh  as  much  as 
125  pounds  to  the  yard.  The  tremendous  increases  in 
the  weight  of  cars  and  engines  and  in  the  speed  of  trains 
have  necessitated  this  great  increase  in  the  weight  of  the 
rails,  together  with  even  greater  improvements  in  the 
foundation  on  which  the  rail  rests. 

141 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

As  the  railroad  has  developed,  it  has  been  found  that 
transportation  costs  could  be  cut,  or  at  least  prevented 
from  rising  to  a  prohibitive  degree,  by  increasing  the  size 
of  the  cars,  the  length  of  the  trains,  and  the  operating  speed; 
and  this  of  course  has  necessitated  an  increase  in  size  of 
the  locomotive  because  of  the  additional  power  and  traction 
necessary  to  do  the  heavier  work.  It  is  significant  to  note 
that  the  first  locomotives  built  in  this  country  weighed  but 
3^2  tons  and  that  the  first  freight  cars  had  a  capacity  of 
but  3  to  5  tons.  Today  there  are  locomotives  weighing 
as  much  as  400  tons  and  there  are  freight  cars  of  60  tons 
capacity.  It  is  also  interesting  to  note  that  there  are 
2,400,000  freight  cars  and  900,000  motor  trucks  now  in 
service,  it  has  taken  nearly  100  years  to  develop  2,400,000 
freight  cars  and  but  10  years  to  develop  the  use  of  900,000 
motor  trucks.  The  weight  and  capacity  of  the  motor 
truck  are  already  more  than  double  the  weight  and  capacity 
of  the  first  locomotives  and  freight  cars,  and  yet  the  number 
of  miles  of  highway  that  are  in  any  way  improved,  in  this 
country,  is  less  than  half  the  number  of  miles  of  railroad. 
The  number  of  miles  of  highway  that  are  suitably  im- 
proved to  sustain  heavy  motor  truck  traffic  is  a  ridiculously 
small  percentage  of  the  railroad  mileage. 

Despite  the  fact  that  proper  and  sufficient  highways  do 
not  exist,  motor  truck  transportation  has  increased  and 
is  increasing  faster  than  any  other  method  of  transportation. 
There  can  be  but  one  reason  for  such  a  condition;  and  that 
is,  that  the  motor  truck  has  such  an  important  and  eco- 
nomic place  in  our  distribution  system  that  despite  the 
lack  of  one  of  its  most  important  and  necessary  essentials, 
its  application  is  making  great  headway.  If  this  is  so 
(and  no  one  can  dispute  it),  it  is  something  more  than  short 
sightedness  not  to  provide  for  the  economic  use  of  the  truck. 
This  is  being  recognized  and  great  headway  is  being  made 
in  proper  highway  construction.  Within  the  last  few 
years,  nearly  every  state  in  the  Union  has  voted  a  large 

142 


GOOD   ROADS 

bond  issue,  the  proceeds  of  which  are  to  be  used  for  highway 
construction.  Within  the  last  few  years,  the  Federal 
Government  itself  has  appropriated  monies  to  be  used  with 
the  states  for  this  purpose.  The  important  thing  and  the 
the  thing  to  instill  into  the  minds  of  people  is  to  ensure 
that  these  large  sums  of  money  are  spent  for  the  construc- 
tion of  the  right  kind  of  highways  and  along  routes  that 
will  do  the  most  good.  It  is  especially  important  that 
proper  provision  be  made  for  their  upkeep,  once  the  high- 
ways are  constructed.  How  long  would  railroad  tracks 
last  if  they  were  not  properly  maintained?  If  they  are 
not  properly  maintained,  how  long  would  the  rolling  stock 
last? 

The  present  Federal  aid  laws  do  not  provide  for  main- 
taining the  highways  once  they  are  built,  nor  do  these 
laws  provide  that  proper  consideration  be  given  the  routes 
over  which  Federal  aid  highways  should  be  built.  To 
correct  this  situation,  Senator  Townsend  of  Michigan, 
more  than  two  years  ago,  introduced  a  bill  providing  for  a 
system  of  highways  to  be  built  according  to  the  present 
and  future  demands  of  traffic  and  also  for  maintaining  such 
a  system.  Although  this  bill  had  unusual  support,  the 
exigencies  of  politics  prevented  it  from  getting  very  far. 
That  some  such  bill  will  be  passed  and  made  operative  in 
the  near  future  is  indicated  by  what  President  Harding 
had  to  say  in  his  message  to  the  joint  session  of  the  67th 
Congress,  on  April  12,  1921.  On  that  occasion  President 
Harding,  in  this  connection,  said: 

"  Transportation  over  the  highways  is  little  less  im- 
portant, but  the  problems  relate  to  construction  and  de- 
velopment and  deserve  your  most  earnest  attention,  be- 
cause we  are  laying  a  foundation  for  a  long  time  to  come 
and  the  creation  is  very  difficult  to  visualize  in  its  great 
possibilities. 

"The  highways  are  not  only  feeders  to  the  railroads  and 

143 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

afford  relief  from  their  local  burdens;  they  are  actually 
lines  of  motor  traffic  in  interstate  commerce.  They  are 
the  smaller  arteries  of  the  larger  portion  of  our  commerce 
and  the  motor  car  has  become  an  indispensable  instrument 
in  our  political,  social  and  industrial  life. 

"  There  is  begun  a  new  era  in  highway  construction,  the 
outlay  for  which  runs  far  into  hundreds  of  millions  of 
dollars.  Bond  issues  by  road  districts,  counties  and  states 
mount  to  enormous  figures,  and  the  country  is  facing  such 
an  outlay  that  it  is  vital  that  every  effort  shall  be  directed 
against  wasted  effort  and  unjustifiable  expenditure. 

"The  Federal  Government  can  place  no  inhibition  on 
the  expenditure  in  the  several  States,  but  since  Congress 
has  embarked  upon  a  policy  of  assisting  the  States  in  high- 
way improvement,  wisely,  I  believe,  it  can  assert  a  wholly 
becoming  influence  in  shaping  policy. 

"With  the  principle  of  Federal  participation  acceptably 
established,  probably  never  to  be  abandoned,  it  is  im- 
portant to  exert  Federal  influence  in  developing  compre- 
hensive plans  looking  to  the  promotion  of  commerce  and 
apply  our  expenditures  in  the  surest  way  to  guarantee  a 
public  return  for  money  expended. 

"Large  Federal  outlay  demands  a  Federal  voice  in  the 
programme  of  expenditure.  Congress  cannot  justify  a 
mere  gift  from  the  Federal  purse  to  the  several  States,  to 
be  pro-rated  among  counties  for  road  betterment.  Such 
a  course  will  invite  abuses  which  it  were  better  to  guard 
against  in  the  beginning. 

"The  laws  governing  Federal  aid  should  be  amended  and 
strengthened.  The  Federal  agency  of  an  administration 
should  be  elevated  to  the  importance  and  invested  with 
authority  comparable  to  the  work  before  it.  And  Con- 
gress ought  to  prescribe  conditions  to  Federal  appropria- 
tions which  will  necessitate  a  consistent  programme  of 
uniformity  which  will  justify  the  Federal  outlay. 

"I  know  of  nothing  more  shocking  than  the  millions  of 

144 


GOOD   ROADS 

public  funds  wasted  in  improved  highways — wasted  be- 
cause there  is  no  policy  of  maintenance.  The  neglect  is 
not  universal,  but  it  is  very  near  it.  There  is  nothing  the 
Congress  can  do  more  effectively  to  end  this  shocking  waste 
than  to  condition  all  Federal  aid  on  provisions  for  main- 
tenance. Highways,  no  matter  how  generous  the  outlay 
for  constructions,  cannot  be  maintained  without  patrol 
and  constant  repair.  Such  conditions  insisted  upon  in 
the  grant  of  Federal  aid  will  safeguard  the  public  which 
pays,  and  guard  the  Federal  Government  against  political 
abuses,  which  tend  to  defeat  the  very  purposes  for  which 
we  authorize  Federal  expenditure." 

England  and  France  have  excellent  highway  systems,^ 
because  in  the  first  place,  they  were  laid  out  with  respect  I 
to  the  demands  of  traffic ;  they  were  constructed  of  sufficient 
strength  and  width,  and  properly  designed  to  meet  the 
needs  of  whatever  traffic  they  were  called  upon  to  bear; 
and  once  constructed  they  have  been  properly  maintained.^ 
Why  it  is  that  this  country  cannot  benefit  from  the  ex- 
perience others  have  had  in  this  connection  may  probably 
be  charged  to  the  general  wastefulness  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  to  our  lack  of  planning  and  to  our  political 
system  which  makes  experts  over  night.  But  the  motor 
vehicle  has  proven  to  be  such  a  necessary  means  of  trans- 
port that  wastefulness  must  be  eliminated,  routes  planned 
with  respect  to  present  and  future  traffic,  and  economical 
business  methods  universally  adopted  in  connection  with 
the  construction  of  highways,  if  we  are  to  get  the  most  out 
of  this  new  means  of  transport. 

The  roads  of  England  and  France  are  generally  better  \ 
designed  than  are  our  roads;  better  materials  and  better 
workmanship  are  as  a  rule  put  into  them;  the  roads  to  be 
improved  have  been  determined  by  an  analysis  of  traffic 
requirements  and  the  character  of  traffic,  which  analysis 
has  also  determined  the  material  and  type  of  construction 
used.  The  " traffic  census"  is  the  usual  thing  in  these 

145 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

countries.  Once  roads  are  improved,  the  patrol  or  con- 
stant system  of  maintenance  is  used.  Defects  and  first 
appearances  of  wear  are  immediately  taken  care  of.  Yet 
with  this  system  of  acquiring  adequate  roads,  and  with  the 
real  knowledge  that  these  countries  have  of  roads,  they 
continue  to  make  actual  service  experiments.  It  is  pleas- 
ing to  note  that  our  own  Bureau  of  Public  Roads  is  making- 
progress  along  these  lines  and  it  is  also  gratifying  to  know 
that  the  Lincoln  Highway  Association  has  determined  to 
construct  an  " Ideal  Section "  along  that  highway;  and  that 
the  type  of  construction,  materials  to  be  used,  the  dimen- 
sions, and  character  of  foundation  have  been  selected  by 
a  committee  of  highway  engineers.  The  effort,  of  course, 
is  to  determine  how  and  of  what  materials  the  ideal  road 
in  this  country  should  be  built. 

Motor  vehicle  manufacturers  and  allied  manufacturers 
have  done  a  great  deal  to  help  the  highway  situation  by 
designing  their  products  to  meet  the  conditions  presented 
and  to  protect  the  highways.  They  must  keep  up  and 
improve  in  this  work.  Unsprung  weight  is  being  de- 
creased, better  springs  designed,  truck  speed  is  being 
mechanically  limited,  loads  are  being  more  evenly  dis- 
tributed, and  more  resilient  tires  are  being  developed. 
All  of  this  tends  to  decrease  the  wear  and  tear  on  the  high- 
ways as  well  as  on  the  truck  itself. 

But  the  highways  must  be  constructed  (within  economic 
limits)  to  withstand  the  traffic  offered  them.  They  must 
be  the  servants  of  whatever  vehicular  traffic  is  found  to 
be  of  economical  service,  all  conditions  considered,  and 
must  not  be  the  masters  of  such  traffic.  Can  it  be  con- 
ceived by  any  stretch  of  the  imagination  that  the  country 
would  have  developed  as  it  has  if  the  rails  themselves  had 
set  the  pace  for  railroad  development?  How  far  developed 
would  the  country  be  today  and  how  very  much  more  ex- 
pensive distribution  would  be,  if  we  were  still  confined  to 
small  sized  locomotives,  freight  cars  and  trains,  with  their 

146 


GOOD   ROADS 

limited  speed?  The  economy  due  to  larger  railroad 'equip- 
ment and  increased  speed  very  much  more  than  over- 
comes the  increased  cost  of  heavier  tracks,  better  main- 
tained. And  so  it  is  with  motor  trucks  and  highways. 
We  are  learning  that  with  smooth,  wide  highways  of  suffi- 
cient thickness,  built  of  enduring  material  on  well  pro- 
tected foundations,  with  severe  grades  eliminated  and 
curves  amply  protected,  all  properly  maintained  in  good 
order,  the  motor  vehicle  can  be  operated  with  enough  addi- 
tional economy  to  justify  the  additional  first  cost  and 
maintenance  charges  necessary  to  establish  such  highways; 
provided  they  are  laid  out  to  be  real  routes  of  communica- 
tion. 

Such  highways  permit  of  the  use  of  greater  carrying- 
capacity  trucks,  more  mileage  per  day  with  each  such  truck 
with  greater  safety,  less  wear  and  tear  on  the  truck  as 
well  as  on  the  road,  and  less  fuel  consumption.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  present  figures  to  prove  this.  It  is  self- 
evident.  The  point  to  be  determined  is,  just  what  the 
economical  limits  are  in  road  design  and  cost  of  materials 
of  construction.  Some  headway  is  being  made  in  this 
respect,  and  with  a  more  energetic  interest  on  the  part  of 
the  public  and  of  the  authorities,  as  is  now  forecasted,  a 
still  greater  advance  can  be  safely  predicted. 

The  laws  of  motor  truck  transportation  (as  applied  to 
operating  costs),  which  have  been  given  in  Chapter  III, 
show  that  the  cost  per  unit-mile  (per  ton-mile,  etc.)  will 
vary  with  different  capacities  and  with  the  miles  of  truck 
haul  per  day.  This  cost  will  decrease  as  the  capacity  in- 
creases and  it  will  decrease  with  an  increase  in  daily  mileage. 
A  road  that  will  permit  of  the  use  of  large  capacity  trucks 
operating  at  high  speed  (which  of  course  means  more  miles 
per  day)  is  the  road  that  will  lower  ton-mile  costs.  And 
if  such  a  road  is  built  in  the  first  place  in  such  a  way  and 
of  such  materials  to  endure  without  much  maintenance 
expenditure,  and  if  the  attention  which  is  required  is 

147 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

properly  provided,  the  savings  to  the  community  will  more 
than  justify  such  construction;  provided  always  that  there 
is  enough  traffic  to  warrant  such  construction,  or  that 
enough  traffic  can  be  created. 

We  have  seen  in  Chapter  XII  on  Trailers  and  Semi- 
trailers, how  this  form  of  equipment  can  materially  help 
to  reduce  hauling  costs,  by  utilizing  the  full  power  of  the 
truck.  We  should  remember  that  these  devices  cannot  be 
fully  utilized  unless  road  conditions  are  good;  that  is, 
unless  the  roads  are  hard  and  reasonably  level. 

Economic  motor  truck  transportation  is  so  involved 
with  the  question  of  good  roads  and  their  maintenance, 
that  full  advantage  of  this  means  of  transportation  cannot 
be  taken,  unless  the  subject  of  roads  is  broadly  and  wisely 
considered  in  every  detail.  The  community  that  does  not 
provide  good  roads,  adequately  maintained,  is  going  to 
suffer  in  the  future,  just  as  much  as  though  it  did  not  have 
immediate  contact  with  railroads.  It  therefore  behooves 
those  interested,  not  only  in  distribution,  but  also  in  the 
cost  of  Federal,  State  and  County  government  (and  be- 
tween these  interests  every  one  is  included)  to  take  a 
lively  interest  in  the  subject  of  real  highways,  properly 
maintained. 

The  social  advantages  of  good  roads  are  not  fully  under- 
stood and  yet  they  are  very  great.  They  make  personal 
communication  and  contact,  in  those  districts  where  the 
highway  must  be  depended  upon  for  this,  very  much 
easier  and  consequently  more  frequent.  The  value  of 
such  advantage  cannot  be  overestimated.  The  economic 
advantages  are  even  less  understood,  because  to  prove  this 
absolutely,  figures  are  necessary;  and  unfortunately  there 
are  no  figures  at  hand  to  show  such  benefits  in  a  way  that 
^can  be  grasped  by  the  general  public.  When  the  actual 
money  benefits  of  good  roads  can  be  interpreted  in  simple 
terms  that  can  be  easily  grasped  by  any  one,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  an  even  greater  demand  than  now  exists  will 

148 


GOOD   ROADS 

be  made  for  good  roads,  and  this  demand  will  carry  with  it 
the  further  demand  that  the  roads  be  properly  laid  out, 
constructed  and  maintained. 

We  need  more  of  the  kind  of  information  that  was  pre- 
sented in  the  Engineering  News-Record  by  John  C.  Veen- 
bruyzen,  Superintendent,  Los  Angeles  County  Road  De- 
partment, Los  Angeles,  California.  (California  has  made 
rapid  strides  in  good  road  construction  and  probably  has 
more  mileage  of  real,  hard  surfaced,  durable  roads  than 
any  other  state.) 

In  this  article  Mr.  Veenbruyzen  presents  actual  figures 
to  substantiate  the  deduction  made,  at  least  in  the  case  he 
presents,  that  "Good  Roads  Pay  for  Themselves  Twice 
Every  Year."  The  figures  presented  included  total  in- 
vestment for  the  roads  under  construction;  that  is,  original 
cost  and  maintenance  costs  up  to  date;  and  operating  in- 
come based  on  the  number  of  vehicles  using  the  roads, 
multiplied  by  a  conservative  estimate  of  the  saving  in 
ton-mile  haulage  costs  per  vehicle,  based  on  haulage 
charges.  A  period  of  four  years  is  taken :  and  these  figures 
show  conclusively  that  the  saving  in  cost  of  haulage  over 
these  roads  paid  for  them  nine  times  in  the  four  years. 

The  opening  paragraphs  of  this  article  are  as  follows: 

"Comparison  of  accurate  traffic  censuses  with  haulage 
contract  prices  over  both  improved  and  unimproved  roads 
in  Los  Angeles  County,  California,  shows  highway  im- 
provements to  be  a  great  economic  investment.  Accord- 
ing to  the  data  available  as  to  the  saving  in  haulage  per 
ton-mile,  to  date  three  of  the  main  roads  out  of  Los  Angeles 
have  paid  for  their  original  cost  and  maintenance  about 
nine  times  during  the  past  four  years.  While  it  is  im- 
possible to  estimate  some  of  the  indirect  saving  and  other 
advantages  from  such  improvement,  the  actual  saving  in 
transportation  amply  justifies  large  expenditures  for  this 
purpose,  and  it  is  believed  that  if  such  figures  as  are  here 

149 


MOTOR   TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

presented  are  made  public,  there  will  be  no  trouble  in 
obtaining  money  for  such  construction. 

"In  general,  the  public  is  most  interested  in  the  original 
cost  of  such  improvements,  and  although  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent it  is  realized  that  they  are  a  benefit  to  the  community, 
still  the  public  does  not  fully  realize  what  the  actual  benefit 
is  because  there  are  no  figures  at  hand  to  show  this  benefit 
in  a  form  that  can  be  grasped  generally.  Indeed,  it  is 
doubted  whether  the  persons  most  interested  in  the  subject 
—that  is,  those  who  create  the  traffic  by  the  use  of  such 
roads  for  their  daily  work  or  pleasure — fully  realize  the 
economy  which  is  the  result  of  the  improvement  and  to 
what  extent  they  profit. 

"It  will  therefore  not  be  out  of  place  to  give  some  de- 
tailed figures,  the  result  of  nearly  five  years  of  investigation, 
which  express  what  might  be  called  the  '  operative  income ' 
of  good  roads,  .  .  .  ' 

And  then  the  article  goes  on  to  analyze  the  figures  given 
and  arrives  at  the  above  conclusions. 

Three  different  roads  are  taken,  aggregating  forty-three 
miles  in  length,  which  cost  when  they  were  built  in  1911, 
1912,  and  1913,  $670,801.00,  and  which  have  cost  $522,- 
343.00  to  maintain  up  to  and  including  1918:  so  that  the 
total  cost  up  to  that  time  was  $1,192,144.00.  The  total 
operative  income  for  the  four  years  of  1915,  1916,  1917  and 
1918  is  given  as  $10,718,646.30;  or  in  other  words,  the  roads 
paid  for  themselves  nine  times  in  the  four  years,  or  they 
actually  paid  for  themselves,  in  the  reduction  of  haulage 
charge,  within  six  months. 

It  is  interesting  to  -note  that  the  maintenance  charges 
on  these  roads  had  about  equalled  their  cost  in  seven  years  : 
and  as  the  motor  truck  traffic  alone  was  heavy  (about 
10,000,000  trucks  a  year)  the  question  may  be  raised 
whether  it  would  not  have  paid  to  have  put  down  a  more 
durable  and  more  rigid  pavement  in  the  first  place.  This 

150 


GOOD   ROADS 

could  probably  have  been  done  at  that  time  for  less  than 
the  total  cost  of  the  softer  and  less  endurable  road,  and  with 
less  annoyance  to  traffic  through  maintenance  delays.  The 
answer  to  this  is  however  that  when  these  roads  were 
planned  and  built,  motor  trucks  were  not  anticipated  in 
any  such  number  as  now  exist,  and  not  so  much  was  known 
about  the  kind  of  road  to  put  under  them  as  is  now  known. 
Again,  it  may  have  been  the  old  story  of  first  cost. 

In  connection  with  this  subject  of  motor  trucks  and  road 
maintenance  the  experience  that  New  York  State  is  having 
is  significant  and  impressive.  This  experience  is  concisely 
put  in  the  1919  annual  report  of  Frederick  S.  Green,  New 
York  State  Commissioner  of  Highways  for  that  year. 
Mr.  Green  reports  under  " Permanent  Pavements"  as 
follows : 

"Upon  taking  office,  the  present  Commission  was 
astonished  to  find  how  large  a  sum  is  now  required  to 
maintain  our  highways.  Realizing  that  this  expenditure 
will  increase  rapidly  with  both  the  increased  age  and 
mileage  of  our  improved  roads,  a  study  of  maintenance 
was  made  from  Department  records  which  led  to  a  definite 
and  undeniable  conclusion:  Many  of  the  highways  as  con- 
structed in  the  past  were  not  designed  with  sufficient 
strength  to  carry  present  day  traffic.  The  advent  of  the 
motor  truck  has  made  the  building  of  more  permanent 
type  of  pavement  an  economical  necessity.  That  truck 
traffic  is  but  in  its  infancy,  and  will  be  doubled  and  trebled 
during  the  next  decade,  is  confidently  predicted  by  the 
users  and  manufacturers  of  these  vehicles. 

"In  round  numbers  it  is  now  costing  the  State  $1,000  per 
mile  per  year  to  keep  the  lighter  types  of  pavement  in 
usable  condition,  whereas  experience  shows  that  by  building 
a  stronger  pavement  at  a  slightly  greater  initial  cost,  this 
maintenance  charge  will  be  reduced  to  not  more  than 
$200  per  mile  per  year.  Department  records  further  show 

151 


MOTOR  TRUCK  TRANSPORTATION 

that  these  light  pavements  go  to  pieces  in  from  seven  to 
ten  years,  making  reconstruction  necessary.  We  believe 
that  pavements  constructed  upon  a  better  foundation  and 
of  a  more  durable  material,  will  last  25  years  or  longer." 

The  New  York  Sun  probably  expressed  the  growing 
public  opinion  on  the  subject  of  motor  trucks  and  highways 
in  a  recent  editorial  entitled  "New  Freight  Carriers," 
reading  as  follows : 

"After  the  signing  of  the  armistice  an  extensive  reduc- 
tion in  the  volume  of  freight  moved  in  this  country  was 
expected  by  many  to  render  unnecessary  the  practice  of 
long-distance  hauling  with  motor  trucks.  Yet  today  not 
only  does  the  truck  hold  its  own  as  a  freight  carrier,  but  it 
even  gains  in  some  sections,  for'some  uses. 

"Reliable  statistics  show  that  some  1,100  trucks,  en- 
gaged in  long  distance  hauling,  enter  Manhattan  every  day 
from  the  New  Jersey  side  alone.  The  movement  of  goods 
between  Boston,  Hartford  and  Springfield  is  said  to  ap- 
proximate daily  300,000  pounds.  From  Los  Angeles  as 
a  center  600  trucks  serve  the  whole  of  southern  California, 
distributing  merchandise  to  the  farmers  for  many  miles 
around  and  bringing  back  in  return  agricultural  products 
for  railroad  shipment  or  consumption  in  the  city. 

"Unfortunately  this  new  movement  for  its  maximum  de- 
velopment requires  nothing  less  than  the  reconstruction 
of  the  entire  system  of  national  highways.  Heavy  trucks 
soon  pound  the  old  macadam  roads  to  pieces  and  nothing 
short  of  the  firmest  seems  adequate  to  their  needs.  Some 
States  have  met  the  situation  by  prohibiting  the  operation 
of  trucks  of  a  certain  tonnage  over  the  highways.  But 
others,  taking  a  more  daring  view  of  the  opportunities  and 
requirements  of  the  situation,  have  undertaken  to  provide 
the  proper  roads  for  long  distance  traffic. 

uThe  Highway  Commission  of  California  plans  to  spend 

152 


GOOD   ROADS 

$12,000,000  a  year  on  road  work,  while  some  fifteen  South- 
ern or  Southwestern  States  have  appropriated  large  sums 
for  a  like  purpose. 

"In  short,  the  motor  truck  has  inaugurated  a  new  era  in 
transportation.  It  seems  most  unlikely  that  this  carrier 
will  ever  supersede  the  railway  to  anything  like  the  ex- 
tent to  which,  for  instance,  the  railway  superseded  the 
canal,  but  it  has  already  claimed  for  itself  a  share  in  traffic 
of  a  certain  sort.  It  bids  fair,  as  time  passes,  to  win  more 
than  it  has  yet  got.  The  State  which  fails  to  realize  that 
long  distance  truck  hauling  has  come  to  stay  and  neglects 
to  provide  for  it  suitable  highways  may  suffer  for  its  lack  of 
foresight,  by  lost  opportunities." 


153 


THE  LITERATURE  OF  THE 

SCIENCES  AND  ENGINEERING 


On  our  shelves  is  the  most  complete  stock  of 
technical,  industrial,  engineering  and  scientific 
books  in  the  United  States.  The  technical  liter- 
ature of  every  trade  is  well  represented,  as  is  also 
the  literature  relating  to  the  various  sciences, 
both  the  books  useful  for  reference  as  well  as 
those  fitted  for  students'  use  as  textbooks. 
A  large  number  of  these  we  publish  and  for  an 
ever  increasing  number  we  are  the  sole  agents. 

ALL  INQUIRIES  MADE  OF  US  ARE  CHEER- 
FULLY AND  CAREFULLY  ANSWERED 
AND  COMPLETE  CATALOGS  AS  WELL  AS 
SPECIAL  LISTS  SENT  FREE  ON  REQUEST 


D.  VAN  NOSTRAND  COMPANY 
Publishers  and  Booksellers 

8  WARREN  STREET  NEW  YORK 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
This  book  is  DT  TE  on  the  last  date 


LD  21-100m-12,'46(A2012sl6)4120 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


